Serbia offered this Sunday to host a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the elected president of the United States of America, Donald Trump, arguing that it is an independent country and not aligned with military blocs.
Serbia is the place on the globe that would suit both,” said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on the commercial television channel Pink.
The head of state argued that Serbia is the most suitable location because “it is not only formally outside the military blocs, but essentially outside both blocs, it is an independent country” and “prepared to guarantee total security to both presidents”.
He also pointed out that Serbia is the country where both Trump and Putin enjoy the greatest support.
“There is no country that compares to Serbia in terms of the level of support for President Trump,” Vucic said, adding that it is, at the same time, “a country where President Putin continues to be very, very popular.”
Serbia is a candidate country for entry into the European Union, but it also maintains close ties with Russia.
Donald Trump said he is preparing a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
“He wants us to meet and we are organizing that,” Trump said on Thursday, before a meeting with Republican governors at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, in the state of Florida (southeast).
“President Putin wants us to meet, he even said so publicly, and we need to end this war, which is a real waste,” added the tycoon.
Trump promised during the election campaign to end the war in Ukraine “within 24 hours” and has already called for an “immediate ceasefire” and peace negotiations.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, with the argument of protecting pro-Russian separatist minorities in the east and “denazifying” the neighboring country, independent since 1991 – after the disintegration of the former Soviet Union – and which has been move away from Moscow’s space of influence and get closer to Europe and the West.
The war in Ukraine has already caused tens of thousands of deaths on both sides.
Recent months have been marked by large-scale Russian airstrikes against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, while Kiev’s forces have targeted targets on Russian territory close to the border and on the Crimean peninsula, illegally annexed in 2014.
Source: rr.sapo.pt
