Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has denied claims that the June 27 Washington talks, or any other talks could result in Serbia recognizing Kosovo.
“I am ashamed to reply that Serbia will recognize Kosovo on the eve of Vidovdan [Serbian national holiday]. I am ashamed, because it says more about them [Kosovo Albanians]. It will never be a topic [for discussion],” he said.
Vučić, who had a conversation with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on the day US envoy Richard Grenell announced Kosovo-Serbia talks in Washington, explained the busy agenda that awaits him after the June 24 general election in Serbia. He is expected to meet with Putin before the Washington talks.
“I talked to Putin yesterday, we had a long conversation. The day after the election, Lajcak is coming, the day after that I’m going to Moscow. Two days after that we have to agree on the delegation that is going to Washington. A few days after that I think there will be some more important meetings that we cannot talk about, because they told us so,” Vučić said.
The Serbian President said that he had been pushing Kosovo’s President Hashim Thaci for several years to stop their attempts for membership in international organizations, and sit in talks, but Thaci never accepted.
On Monday, Grenell announced that the Kosovo government has agreed to this condition, and Serbia has agreed to stop lobbying countries to withdraw recognition of Kosovo in return. However, Vučić stated that he was worried whether Albanians would keep their promise.
On Tuesday, Serbia’s foreign minister thanked Algeria for not recognizing Kosovo, despite Grenell’s promise one day before that they would stop the campaign.
Vučić also underlined that there is a big conflict between the US and Germany, and Serbia has to protect itself from possible complications.
“No matter how it ends, it is important that we remain unharmed in the fight of elephants. We will not fight with Germany and America,” he said.
