Gas price, situation in region, solution to Kosovo and Metohija crisis: Vucic meets with Putin

Photo: Tanjug/Presidency of Serbia

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic will meet today in Sochi with President of Russia Vladimir Putin. The key topic of the 19th official meeting between Vucic and Putin will be the supply and the price of gas, but the leaders of the two countries will also discuss the situation in the Western Balkans, joint projects and economic cooperation.

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Aleksandar Vucic and Vladimir Putin will meet at around 1 pm local time, around 11 am Serbian time. The two presidents will first talk in private, and then they will have a working lunch. Everything is done in private, given the strict epidemiological measures.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic arrived in Sochi on Wednesday, a day before the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, where he pointed out that there will be many topics on the table, but that one of the key ones is the supply and the price of gas.

He noted that Russia takes care of its interests, but stressed that he is sure that it will also care about the friendly relations with Serbia.

Before the trip to Sochi, President Vucic said several times that this was an extremely important meeting for Serbia, stressing as the most important topic of conversation the future long-term agreement with Russia on gas supply, not hiding that he would ask Putin for the best price.

Vucic also defined how important the outcome of the talks on gas is in conversation with journalist Vladimir Solovyev, when he said he was going to Russia and would be returning either "with my shield or on it."

Serbia is almost completely dependent on Russian gas because it produces only 13% from its own sources, while the rest is imported from Russia.

Photo: Telegraf.rs

At the moment, the agreement between Srbijagas and Russia's Gazprom is in force, but it expires at the end of this year, at a time that is especially problematic due to the great turbulence on the energy market.

The price of 1,000 cubic meters of gas on the stock exchange now at times exceeds $1,000, while Serbia pays $270 for the same amountđ, according to the current contract.

Situation in Western Balkans and solution for Kosovo and Metohija crisis on the table

Aleksandar Vucic also announced that he would inform President Putin about everything that is happening in the Kosovo and Metohija talks, as well as about the situation in the Western Balkans overall.

It is these issues that the Kremlin sees as central in the conversation between the two leaders.

The Kremlin has officially announced the meeting between Putin and Vucic, and a statement said that the talks between the two leaders will, among other things, focus on resolving the crisis in Kosovo and Metohija.

"Putin and Vucic are scheduled to touch on burning issues of the Russian-Serbian strategic partnership in the political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres, as well as exchange views on the situation in the Balkans, including prospects for resolving the Kosovo issue," the Kremlin said.

The meeting in Sochi, the 19th official meeting between presidents Vucic and Putin, comes at a time of numerous challenges Serbia is facing - increased pressure from the West, criticism of the rule of law, the media and the state of the environment, and the international community's silence on Pristina's moves, but also a more complicated situation in the region.

(Telegraf.rs)