Overview

• Vucic arrived in Odesa on June 11 to participate in the Ukraine-Southeastern Europe Summit, his first visit to Ukraine in 12 years.
• The summit brought together leaders from 12 Southeastern European nations just days after Odesa came under a major Russian drone and missile attack.
• Serbia has declined to join Western sanctions on Russia while consistently condemning Moscow’s policies in the United Nations and supporting Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
• Belgrade’s bid for EU membership is complicated by its reliance on Russian gas supplies and Gazprom’s majority stake in Serbia’s sole oil refinery.
• In late May, Russia’s foreign intelligence service accused Serbia’s defense manufacturers of covertly supplying ammunition and weapons to Ukraine, branding the action a “stab in the back.”