Serbia: Putin pledges continued support against Kosovo independence

Belgrade, 23 March (AKI) - Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin arrived in Serbia on Wednesday and pledged his continued support to Serbia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in view of Kosovo's three-year-old declaration of independence.

After talks with Serbian president Boris Tadic and prime minister Mirko Cvetkovic, Putin said his visit was a confirmation of “traditional friendship between Russia and Serbia and closeness of Russian and Serbian people”.

Russia blocked declaration of Kosovo independence by majority Albanians in the United Nations Security Council three years ago and Putin vowed Moscow’s policy in relation to Kosovo would not change.

The two countries on Wednesday signed several agreements on “strategic cooperation” in the sphere of energy, transport tourism, cultural and technical cooperation.

Russia is Serbia’s leading trade partner with a total turnover last year topping 2.7 billion dollars. Both leaders agreed there was ample room to further promote trade and increase Russian investments which stand at 1.4 billion dollars.

“I’m convinced that the visit strengthens our political ties and will promote our economic cooperation,” Putin said. He confirmed that Russia will start building the South Stream gas pipeline in 2013, facilitating the flow of natural gas to west Europe across Serbia.

Tadic thanked Putin for his support over Kosovo and said that world security and allied action in Libya were also on the agenda of today’s talks. He said a “high level” of agreement was reached on all issues discussed.

“We are very concerned about the suffering of civilian population in Libya ad would like all decisions to be directed at stopping the destruction and jeopardizing civilian population,” Tadic said.

On a visit to Slovenia on Tuesday, Putin said there was no dispute between him and president Dmitry Medvedev over Libya, despite differing statements the prior day. Putin has compared allied action in Libya to “medieval calls for crusades,” which Medvedev termed as “unacceptable language”.

"If you are interested in whether there is any difference in the way Mr. Medvedev and I approach these events, let me assure you: we are very close, and we understand each other," he told reporters in Ljubljana.

Putin said Russia had no objections to Serbia’s striving to join the European Union. We will carefully watch and work jointly that European integration doesn’t harm relations between Russia and Serbia,” Putin said.