The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is set to arrive in Serbia on 8 August 2026 for an official visit. The Serbian president will host the Ukrainian leader during this two-day stay, which marks a historic moment in the bilateral relations between the two countries. This is the first official visit by Zelensky to Serbia since he assumed office in 2019, and the first since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The visit is seen as highly symbolic given the complex geopolitical backdrop. Serbia traditionally maintains close ties with Russia, which has historically been one of its key diplomatic allies, and the country is heavily dependent on Russian natural gas. In the wake of the conflict, Belgrade has sought to balance its ties with Moscow against its relations with the West, a balance visible in the fact that while Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić attended a military parade in Moscow last year, he did not attend this year’s Victory Day celebrations.
Despite these challenges, the two countries’ relations have been based in recent years on a shared aspiration for membership in the European Union, with Belgrade and Kyiv supporting each other’s European integration. A key element of bilateral relations is the mutual support for territorial integrity. Serbia explicitly supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine, while Ukraine, which does not recognise the independence of Kosovo, supports the territorial integrity of Serbia.
According to earlier reports, a memorandum of understanding could be signed during the visit, which would advance trade cooperation between the two countries. This document had been under consideration since May, when a Ukrainian delegation was expected to visit Belgrade, but the deal was delayed. Relations had further normalised following the president’s first official visit to Ukraine in June 2025, where he attended the Ukraine–South East Europe summit in Odesa.
The diplomatic activity culminated on 15 July, when the Serbian president visited Kyiv as part of a delegation of European leaders marking Ukrainian Independence Day. While political issues dominate, media reports have also highlighted allegations that Serbia has indirectly supplied weapons to Ukraine, a claim the Serbian president publicly denied in May 2025.
