Russian president to visit Serbia in October

MOSCOW

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will arrive here for an official visit in October, it was announced in Moscow. The news came after Wednesday’s telephone conversation between Medvedev and his Serbian counterpart Boris Tadić.

The Kremlin has announced that the Russian head of state will attend the ceremonies marking the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade in the Second World War.

He will also take part in a summit dedicated to Russo-Serbian strategic partnership.

Medvedev’s visit will be the first from a Russian president in the past years. Previously, then president, now Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was in Belgrade in 2001. Putin was also scheduled to travel to Serbia in 2007, but that trip was canceled.

Last February, Medvedev was in Belgrade in the capacity of Russia’s first vice-premier, when he and his Serbian hosts discussed an energy agreement that eventually saw Serbia’s oil monopoly NIS sold to Gazprom.

It was also agreed at the time for Russia’s South Stream natural gas pipeline to go through Serbia.