Vucic makes his first-ever visit to Ukraine

Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic travelled to the Ukrainian city of Odesa for a regional summit on Wednesday, the first time the Moscow-friendly leader has visited the country during his 12 years in power.

According to Reuters, Vucic's office said in a statement that he would travel to Ukraine for one day to take part in the Ukraine-Southeastern Europe Summit in the Black Sea port of Odesa, which this week faced a major Russian drone and missile attack, CE Report quotes Ukrinform.

Senior politicians from 12 Southeastern European nations were expected to take part in the summit.

Although Belgrade has refused to join Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, it has condemned Moscow's policies in the United Nations and expressed support for Ukraine's territorial integrity.

The only Serbian president to visit Ukraine since the Balkan country became independent in 2006 was Boris Tadic in 2011. Ukraine's previous president, Petro Poroshenko, visited Serbia in 2018.

Vucic has also previously met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at least three times.

Serbia wants to join the European Union, but Russia, a traditional Slavic and Orthodox Christian ally, remains its biggest gas supplier, and the country's sole oil refinery is majority-owned by Gazprom and Gazprom Neft.

Serbia's Minister of European Integration, Nemanja Starovic, recently stated that his country strongly condemns Russia's aggression against Ukraine.