BELGRADE, August 29. /TASS/: Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic has said he is on friendly terms with Russia’s ambassador Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko and rejected accusations that he was meeting with the Russian diplomat to report to him.
"I have known Russia’s ambassador Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko for many years. We have impeccable relations. It might be pretentious to say that we are friends, but I probably won't be wrong if I do say so. When someone starts telling you that you went to see the Russian ambassador to report to him, you can draw two conclusions. One is that such people make judgements based on their own preconceptions. In reality, it is they who go to some foreign ambassadors to report to them. Second, he was my guest. I was hosting him, not the other way around. That’s why it sounds so ridiculous," Vucic said at a news conference, while commenting on claims that the Serbian head of state reports to the Russian ambassador.
He added that people who want to impose sanctions against Moscow and pursue an unfriendly policy towards Russia were interested in this type of propaganda, which he dismissed as an "irresponsible and unserious approach."
Vucic and Botsan-Kharchenko held a meeting on August 28. The Serbian leader said afterwards that Belgrade expected harmony in relations with Moscow.
On August 24, the Russian diplomat met Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic. They had "a substantive exchange of views on a number of topical international issues and focused on developing Russian-Serbian cooperation."
