President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at the Palace Serbia in Belgrade on Saturday, August 8, 2026. The meeting was announced by the press office of the Office of the President of Ukraine.
Before the negotiations, Vucic greeted Zelenskyy outside the Palace Serbia. An official ceremony was held with the national anthems of Ukraine and Serbia, a red carpet, and an honor guard. One-on-one leadership talks and joint statements were scheduled for 12:00 p.m. local time.
Zelenskyy arrived in Serbia on Friday, August 7, marking his first official visit to the country. He was met at the airport by Minister of Energy and Mining Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic, rather than President Vucic.
On Friday evening, Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram that he and his team were scheduled to hold talks with Vucic and Prime Minister Djuro Matsuta. He stated that discussions would cover expanding economic ties, relations with the European Union, and security issues, adding that Ukraine is committed to constructive and mutually beneficial cooperation based on mutual respect.
The Serbian Service of Radio Free Europe reported that the two leaders met for dinner on Friday evening. Vucic posted on Instagram that he welcomed Zelenskyy to Belgrade and expressed conviction that the visit would advance bilateral relations and cooperation in areas of mutual interest. He added that the dinner provided an opportunity to begin discussing topics for their official meetings.
Talks on European Union Membership
Ahead of the meeting, Vucic stated that the leaders would discuss their countries' applications for European Union membership, alongside economic and energy cooperation.
The two presidents previously met in Kyiv in mid-July 2026 at the Ukraine-South-East Europe summit. Vucic confirmed at the time that he was the only summit participant who did not sign a joint declaration on continuing political, military, financial, and security support for Ukraine and increasing pressure on Russia.
That document accused Russia of illegal, unprovoked, and unjustified aggression against Ukraine, calling for an immediate end to the war and the complete, unconditional withdrawal of military forces from Ukrainian territory. Serbia has condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but it refuses to join European Union sanctions against Moscow.
In May 2026, Vucic spoke with Zelenskyy by phone and stated that Serbia and Ukraine were striving to improve relations through dialogue. Vucic has met Zelenskyy several times at international events, and his visit to Kyiv in July 2026 was the first by a Serbian leader to the Ukrainian capital in over ten years, following a summit in Odesa a year earlier.
