Media: Ukraine and Serbia may fall into the Russian trap on their path to rapprochement

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko met with his Serbian colleague Aleksandar Vucic. According to the Washington Post, Ukraine is looking for rapprochement with Serbia, the Balkan country, which is Russia’s closest ally in Europe, the Voice of America reports. The delegations of the two countries signed bilateral agreements and discussed possibilities for rapprochement of relations in the future. Serbia did not join the Western sanctions imposed on Russia for the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Also, Serbian militants took part in military operations in the east of Ukraine on the side of pro-Russian separatists. At the same time, the President of Serbia, speaking to the press, together with Petro Poroshenko, declared support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the desire for cooperation between the two countries in the process of European integration. “Ukraine supports the territorial integrity of Serbia, and Serbia supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Our countries do not have any pressing problems and we regard our relations exclusively as friendly,” said Aleksandar Vucic. According to Balkan Insight, because of the Russian intervention in Ukraine, Serbia has fallen into a diplomatic trap when the country simultaneously supports Russia and does not recognize a unilateral declaration of Kosovo’s independence. Moreover, Serbia relies on Russia, which having the right of veto in the UN General Assembly blocks Kosovo’s membership in the UN. The Ukrainian president stressed that Kiev does not recognize the independence of Kosovo and believes that the issue should be resolved with respect to the interests of Serbia. Serbia cannot count on membership in the EU until the issue of Kosovo is resolved. To maintain control over the territory, Serbia relied on Russia’s support. As UNIAN reported, Serbia voted against the UN resolution on the Crimea. It was the only Balkan country that made such decision. Source: УНИАН