Serbia will continue to support Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity while seeking closer economic cooperation between the two countries, President Aleksandar Vučić said on Saturday, stopping short of pledging sanctions against Belgrade’s long-time ally Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is concluding a two-day visit to Belgrade, his first since taking office in 2019. His wife, Olena Zelenska, visited the Serbian capital in 2024.
Vučić, who faces possible early elections in the coming months, has sought to balance Serbia’s ambition to join the European Union with its historic and economic ties to Moscow.
Serbia condemned Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 but has refused to impose sanctions on Moscow. The country also remains heavily dependent on Russia for its gas supplies.
Vučić, who has met Zelenskyy several times, most recently in Kyiv on 15 July, said Serbia would continue to support Ukraine’s territorial integrity, including territories seized by Russia since 2014.
Ukraine, for its part, has not recognised Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence. Belgrade considers Kosovo part of Serbia.
“You have never heard a single bad word about our country, neither from Volodymyr Zelenskyy nor anyone else in Ukraine, and I am extremely grateful to our Ukrainian friends for that,” Vucic said.
He also said he was sceptical that either Serbia or Ukraine would secure rapid accession to the European Union, but reaffirmed Belgrade’s support for Kyiv’s membership bid.
Vučić and Zelenskyy said both countries want to strengthen economic cooperation and complete a free trade agreement by the end of the year.
The agreement is important for Serbia’s bid to join the World Trade Organisation and is also a prerequisite for European Union membership.
Ukraine has blocked the deal since 2005 because of disputes over quotas and tariffs affecting its agricultural sector.
Zelenskyy said the two leaders discussed joint infrastructure projects as well as cooperation on energy and food security ahead of the winter, as Ukraine continues to face Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure.
“We are developing all formats of cooperation which can give our people ... more resilience,” Zelenskyy said.
The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Belgrade of selling ammunition to Ukraine through intermediaries.
Serbia has denied supplying ammunition directly to Ukraine, while acknowledging that it has sold ammunition to buyers in other countries.
Vučić said military cooperation was not discussed during his talks with Zelenskyy.
As the Ukraine war is highlighted by some leaders during the United Nations' 81st General Assembly meetin...
The 81st UN General Assembly returns for its third day in New York on Thursday, with world leaders delivering high-level speeches and holding diplo...
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained low on Thursday, as Iran reiterated that it will neither enter into new negotiations with th...
As the Ukraine war is highlighted by some leaders during the United Nations' 81st General Assembly meeting in New York, Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early on Thursday with ballistic missiles, killing two people and injuring six, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained low on Thursday, as Iran reiterated that it will neither enter into new negotiations with the United States nor re-open the Strait as long as its conditions are not met, despite recent indirect talks in New York mediated by Qatar.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New York on Wednesday, as Washington pushes for an end to the war in Ukraine and Kyiv and Moscow continue to strike energy infrastructure.
U.S. President Donald Trump said his team held a three-hour meeting with an Iranian delegation in New York that he described as “very good” and “productive”, with another round of talks scheduled soon.
The 81st UN General Assembly continues in New York on Wednesday, with another day of high-level speeches and diplomatic meetings. The wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, global security and international cooperation remain at the centre of discussions.
As the Ukraine war is highlighted by some leaders during the United Nations' 81st General Assembly meeting in New York, Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early on Thursday with ballistic missiles, killing two people and injuring six, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
The 81st UN General Assembly returns for its third day in New York on Thursday, with world leaders delivering high-level speeches and holding diplomatic meetings. Restoring trust, managing global transformation, peace and security, and international cooperation remain at the centre of discussions.
Australia says an OpenAI AI agent gained unauthorised access to a government Medicare statistics portal in June, in what officials say could be an unprecedented case of an AI system breaching a government network.
Pakistan says it carried out air strikes on 10 locations in Afghanistan on Thursday, targeting sites it said were used to store and launch drones, as tensions between the two neighbouring countries continued to escalate.
Here’s your AnewZ Daily Brief for 24 September 2026, with five key developments from the second day of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
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