Some interesting data from the German newspaper "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" on the visit of the Ukrainian president to Serbia

According to diplomatic sources, there is a lobby in Kiev that in principle opposes Zelensky's visit to the pro-Russian Balkan state.

A visit by Zelensky to Serbia was expected to take place in mid-May, but Kiev postponed it at the last minute. The visit was rescheduled and scheduled for the first week of August, when on July 15 Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić attended the fifth Ukraine-Southeast Europe summit in Kiev.

Although there is no official confirmation, the German newspaper emphasizes that it is likely that Ukraine and Serbia will have cooperation not only in the economic field, but also in the field of defense, including the possibility of joint production of drones. Such cooperation could be realized through a tripartite agreement: Serbia as a country of production, Ukraine as a leading country in the use of drones, and the United Arab Emirates as a financier.

The visit is also politically sensitive because, according to polls, the population's sympathy for Russian President Vladimir Putin in no other European country is more pronounced than in Serbia. Serbia is one of the few European countries that has not imposed sanctions against Russia. According to data, Ukrainians have long been interested in the production of weapons and ammunition in Serbia.

An important role in the connection between Kiev and Belgrade was played by American diplomat Chris Hill. "At the beginning of my term in Belgrade, the Ukrainian ambassador came to me with a list of military equipment that Ukraine urgently needed on the battlefield. My embassy team verified whether the Serbs had the capabilities to meet these requirements - and they did," Hill recalls in a telephone conversation with the German newspaper and explains the next steps: "The United States began to support the purchase of significant quantities of Serbian ammunition, which we knew was urgently needed in Ukraine."

Serbia still insists today that it has never sold a single cartridge to Ukraine, which is formally true. The shipments went to intermediaries, for example in Poland or the Czech Republic. From there they were sent to Ukraine without Serbia's involvement.

Hill describes the meeting between Vučić and Zelensky in Athens in August 2023 as a key moment, where the two presidents agreed to closer cooperation and then put it into practice. According to Hill, it was also about Serbia being “on the right side of history,” “even though it has been criticized for not joining sanctions against Russia.”

Anyone who follows the international activities of the Ukrainian arms industry inevitably comes across the name of Oleksandr Kamyshin, former director of Ukrainian Railways and later Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine. From 2024 he will have a new role: as Zelensky's advisor on strategic issues, he must connect the Ukrainian defense industry with European partners.

In Serbia, too, Kamishin has played a behind-the-scenes role as a mediator and coordinator. He is said to have visited the Balkan country several times in recent years and, together with his team, to have examined potential locations for a joint drone production. According to informed sources, the production of artillery ammunition has also been a topic of discussion.

"Both the Serbian and Ukrainian economies have an interest in such an agreement," confirms Marko Čadež, president of the Serbian Chamber of Foreign Trade, who has done much, both publicly and behind the scenes, for economic rapprochement between the two countries.

Chadez sees great growth potential for both countries, especially in the information technology sector. "The resilience of the Ukrainian IT industry is impressive. Even in wartime conditions, it managed to maintain its export capacity and during the war reach a record value of $7.3 billion in exports.

"It has maintained Ukraine's reputation as one of the leading European countries for IT services." The Serbian IT sector, meanwhile, is one of the fastest growing in Europe. There are opportunities for joint growth here, emphasizes the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung." /Telegrafi/