Serbian President Vucic: World leaders communicate with Putin secretly

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has claimed that at least two world leaders have secretly negotiated with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the past three years.

Photo: flickr.com by European People's Party, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Aleksandar Vučić

Vučić, who has not met with Putin since November 2021, stated that while many Western leaders publicly distance themselves from Moscow, some have engaged in undisclosed talks with the Russian president.

"I know of at least two world leaders who have secretly spoken with him," Vučić said adding that he remains informed through contacts in the Kremlin and other countries.

When asked whether Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico were among those leaders, Vučić clarified that he was not referring to them specifically. 

Both Orbán and Fico had publicly met with Putin in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

Vučić's upcoming visit to Moscow on May 9 for Victory Day celebrations will mark his first in-person meeting with Putin in three and a half years. He emphasized that Serbia remains transparent and true to its commitments, contrasting his approach with the secret diplomacy he claims other leaders have conducted.

Reports have also surfaced about possible covert negotiations between Russia and Germany. The last known conversation between Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took place on November 15, 2024, following a previous call in December 2022. Speculation about backchannel talks between Berlin and Moscow has persisted since mid-2022, with some analysts suggesting that Germany may prioritize maintaining diplomatic space with Russia over fully aligning with Ukraine's interests.

Details

Aleksandar Vučić (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар Вучић, pronounced [aleksǎːndar vǔtʃitɕ]; born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as President of Serbia since 2017. A founding member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), he previously served as President of the SNS from 2012 to 2023, First Deputy Prime Minister from 2012 to 2014, and Prime Minister of Serbia from 2014 to 2017. Born in Belgrade, Vučić graduated as a lawyer from the Faculty of Law of University of Belgrade. Vučić began his political career in 1993, as a member of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS) in the National Assembly of Serbia. In 1995, he became the secretary-general of SRS. He was appointed minister of information in 1998 in the government of Mirko Marjanović. During his tenure as minister, which lasted until the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević in 2000, Vučić introduced restrictive measures against journalists and banned foreign TV networks. After 2000, he was one of the most prominent figures in the Serbian opposition. Together with Tomislav Nikolić, Vučić left SRS and co-founded SNS in 2008, initially serving as its deputy president. SNS became the largest party in the 2012 election and SNS soon formed a government with the Socialist Party of Serbia. Vučić was appointed first deputy prime minister and elected president of SNS.