Ukraine's Ambassador to Serbia says work underway to organise meeting of Ukrainian and Serbian presidents, but difficulties abound

Volodymyr Tolkach, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Serbia, has said that diplomats are working to organise a meeting between Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Source: European Pravda, citing Tolkach’s interview with Nova, a Serbian TV network

Details: When asked to comment on Vučić’s claim that the two presidents have not spoken in a long time, the Ukrainian ambassador said that "perhaps the diplomats haven’t done everything they had to do to make sure this conversation takes place."

"But the current situation is not conducive to this conversation, because concrete issues that would have to be discussed have to be well thought-out in light of the current situation in Ukraine," Tolkach added.

He confirmed that the diplomatic corps were asked to orgainse a meeting between the Serbian and Ukrainian presidents, "and we are working on it".

"There are many issues that have to be discussed not just with the president himself, but also with numerous ministries and ministers. First and foremost, these are economic issues, our joint co-operation with international organisations, and, of course, there are also political issues. All of these issues have to be finalised and a telephone conversation or a meeting has to be organised," the Ukrainian ambassador added.

Tolkach also explained that the dialogue between Ukraine and Serbia could be built on such things as the countries’ "mutual interests on the international arena", including the fact that both countries support for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

"We know that Serbia supports Ukraine in this area and has voted in favour of UN resolutions. On the other hand, Ukraine supports Serbia and its territorial integrity with regard to Kosovo and Metohija," Tolkach said.

There has been no information about a possible meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Aleksandar Vučić prior to Tolkach’s interview.

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