Russian, Serbian Foreign Ministers to Meet Over Cooperation Within OSCE

MOSCOW, December 18 (Sputnik) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will discuss prospects of partnership within the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) with his Serbian counterpart, Ivica Dacic, who will serve as the organization's chairman in 2015, the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokesperson has told RIA Novosti.

"Our country [Russia] aims for close and constructive cooperation with Belgrade [Serbia] on all issues on the OSCE agenda. In the current circumstances, the prevailing issues are finding ways out of the European security crisis within the framework of the "Helsinki + 40" [working Group forum], promoting settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, creating conditions for the harmonization of integration processes and strengthening of traditional values in the OSCE zone," Alexander Lukashevich said.

Dacic's meeting with Lavrov is due to take place on December 19 in Moscow.

Lukashevich noted that Moscow welcomes the "interest shown by the Serbian side to Russian approaches."

"We expect from the Serbian presidency [in OSCE] a balanced policy that would guarantee that the positions of all member-states are taken into account, in accordance with the mandate of the OSCE acting chairmanship," the spokesman noted.

According to Lukashevich, the talks will also provide an opportunity to exchange views about the current state and prospects of Russian-Serbian energy cooperation.

"The Serbian leadership reacted with understanding, though not without concerns, to the decision to curtail the South Stream project, the implementation of which was impossible due to the non-constructive actions of the European Commission. Belgrade does not rule out the future possibility that Russia will provide Serbia with reliable alternative energy resources," the spokesman added.

Lukashevich also said that trade between Russia and Serbia continues to grow.

"In the period of January-September 2014, bilateral trade was worth $1.54 billion, which is 15.9 percent more than during the same period in 2013," he stated.

The spokesperson noted that, according to Russian statistics service, Rosstat, Russian foreign direct investment in Serbia has reached more than $1.3 billion.

He also underscored that Serbia's focus on European Union membership, which is the country's key foreign policy priority, "is not considered in Belgrade as an obstacle for the further strengthening of cooperation with Russia and coordinating approaches on topical issues of global and European relevance."

Russia's relations with the West, including the European Union, deteriorated significantly due to the situation in Ukraine, as the United States and its allies accused Russia of meddling in Ukraine's internal affairs and introduced several rounds of sanctions against Russia's banking, energy and defense sectors, as well as certain individuals.

On November 25, Serbian Ambassador to Russia Slavenko Terzic stated that the country has no intention of sacrificing its cooperation with Russia for the sake of entering the European Union.

Earlier in October, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said the country would never impose any sanctions on Russia. Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic stated that his country is not concerned that its refusal to impose sanctions against Russia may delay its accession to the European Union.