At least two “major leaders” have held secret talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin since the start of the war in Ukraine, according to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in an interview with blogger Mario Nawfal.
Nawfal suggested the leaders in question might be Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, both of whom visited Moscow in 2024. However, Vučić denied this, clarifying that he was not referring to them. He hinted that the individuals involved in the secret negotiations with Putin were, in fact, those who had publicly condemned the Russian president’s actions.
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Vučić stated he had not met with Putin since December 2021, when they held a meeting in Sochi. According to Vučić, it was during that conversation that he first suspected Russia was preparing to invade Ukraine. He drew this conclusion from the fact that the topic of Ukraine, usually discussed in detail during their meetings – was mentioned for only about 45 seconds during a three-hour talk.
Vučić said his first meeting with Putin since the full-scale invasion is expected to take place on May 9 in Moscow during Victory Day celebrations.
On March 5, the Kremlin press service reported a phone conversation between Putin and Vučić. According to the official statement, Vučić confirmed his plans to attend the 80th anniversary of Victory Day in Moscow.
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Putin, in turn, congratulated Vučić on his 55th birthday and expressed support for the actions of the “legitimately elected government” amid ongoing protests in Serbia.
Last week, Kyiv Post reported that the largest anti-government protests in Serbia in more than two decades have shaken the capital and spread nationwide, bringing hundreds of thousands to the streets in scenes not seen since the fall of Slobodan Milošević.
What began as student-led demonstrations against corruption and creeping authoritarianism has now ballooned into a full-blown political crisis for President Aleksandar Vučić’s government.
As the standoff deepens, a familiar actor has emerged to help tip the balance: Russia.
In a move that has raised alarm in Western capitals, senior Serbian officials confirmed last week that Russian intelligence officers have been assisting the government in managing the protests, from providing surveillance coordination to offering crowd control logistics.
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