The National Times - Serbia deputy PM mets Putin days after fighter jet deal with France

The meeting took place on the sidelines of an economic forum in Vladivostok, where Putin arrived on Tuesday after a state visit to Mongolia.

Russia television showed Putin telling Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin that Russia had invited President Aleksandar Vucic to attend the BRICS summit in Kazan in October.

Vulin said that Serbia being both an "ally of Russia" and a strategic partner had brought "immense" pressure on the Balkan country.

Serbia "will never become a NATO member, will never impose sanctions on the Russian Federation, and will never allow any anti-Russian actions to be carried out from its territory," Vulin added.

Serbia and Russia have historically close ties.

Belgrade has also remained a rare outlier in Europe for refusing to join international sanctions against the Kremlin over Ukraine.

The meeting comes on the heels of a major arms deal signed between France and Serbia last week that will see Belgrade purchase 12 Rafale warplanes from France's Dassault Aviation.

The dozen multi-role fighter aircraft will help Serbia modernise its air force and replace ageing Soviet-era combat jets.

Following the signing of the deal, Vulin told Russian news agency TASS that the agreement "was done for military and practical reasons and will in no way have a negative impact on relations between the Republic of Serbia and the Russian Federation".

Vulin has long been one of the strongest supporters of the Kremlin among the Serbian governing elite.

Vulin was hit with sanctions by Washington in 2023 over alleged corruption when he was still head of the country's intelligence services.

He stepped down from that post in November 2023, after facing alleged Western pressure.

Vulin was appointed deputy prime minister at the beginning of May.

A.Wood--TNT