Serbia, traditionally one of Russia’s closest allies in Europe, is trying to put some distance between it and Moscow as the war in Ukraine strains ties between the two countries and their leaders.
In an interview in Belgrade, President Alexandre Vucic rejected territorial claims in Ukraine by Vladimir Poutine and predicted that “the worst is yet to come” for the conflict as both sides become bogged down. Vucic, who has had dozens of meetings with Putin in recent years and took Russian lessons so he could speak directly to him, said he had not spoken with his counterpart for “several months.”