President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Belgrade on Friday, Aug. 7, marking his first official visit to Serbia – one of the few European countries that has maintained close ties with Moscow since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Zelensky announced that the bilateral talks with his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vučić, had begun in a statement on Telegram. According to his announcement on X, Zelensky is also set to meet with Serbian Prime Minister Đuro Macut, with the leaders due to discuss strengthening diplomatic ties.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “Important talks are scheduled for today and tomorrow,” Zelensky said, adding that “Ukraine is always ready to work constructively, for mutual benefit, and on the basis of mutual respect.” Serbia’s ties with Moscow Serbia has remained one of the few European countries to refuse to join Western sanctions against Russia. The country’s strong ties to Russia trace back to a shared history as former communist states, with Serbia having been part of ex-Yugoslavia and Russia a Soviet successor state, and partly because Vučić remains reliant on discounted Russian gas. Vučić is also one of a small number of European leaders who continue to travel to Moscow. The same ideological legacy that Serbia shares with Moscow also helps explain Serbia’s parallel closeness with China. Serbia is often described as a hybrid regime, or what critics call a “flawed democracy.”