Shoygu meets with Serbian Defense Minister in Moscow
Russia’s Minister of Defense, Sergey Shoygu, and his Serbian counterpart, Zoran Đorđević, met in Moscow to discuss the possibility of military and technical cooperation between the two countries. This was reported by the Russian Defense Ministry’s press service.
Shoygu congratulated Đorđević on his recent appointment and also mentioned that the Serbian Defense Minister’s first foreign visit in his new role was to Moscow.
“We appreciate your cooperation and hope that in your new role, you will assist in contributing to the further development of our military and technical cooperation, and most importantly to the friendly and brotherly relations between the Armed Forces of Serbia and Russia,” Shoygu said.
“I propose that we discuss further steps to strengthen our cooperation in the field of education, and that we discuss new military training projects. We should also discuss everything concerning our military-technical cooperation in the near future,” Shoygu added.
Đorđević added that relations between Russia and Serbia “have never been better than they are now”.
“We see Russia as our strategic partner. We respect Russia’s position and they are always ready to help us. We will not change our opinion in that the Republic of Serbia will never impose sanctions against Russia,” he concluded.
Đorđević arrived in Russia during the closing ceremony of the International Army Games, which took place at the Alabino training range near Moscow. His party included: the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan, Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov; the Defense Minister of Armenia, Seyran Ohanyan; the Defense Minister of Belarus, Lieutenant General Andrei Ravkov, and his deputy, Major General Sergei Potapenko; as well as the head of the Defense Ministry of Kazakhstan, Imangali Tasmagambetov, and his deputy, Major General Talgat Mukhtarov.
The International Army Games began on the 30th of July and ended on the 13th of August. Representatives of 19 states participated in 23 competitions held in Russia and Kazakhstan.