Zelensky Set to Make First-Ever Visit to Serbia Saturday, Aug. 8

Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to arrive in Belgrade on Saturday, August 8, for his first-ever visit to Serbia since becoming Ukraine's president in 2019, according to Agence France-Presse. The trip is loaded with symbolism and little else guaranteed.

A senior Ukrainian official told AFP the goal is blunt: "We need to pull the Serbs away from Russia's side." That same official called the visit a "slap in the face for the Russians."

Serbia is a Slavic, Orthodox Christian nation with deep historical and religious ties to Russia. Belgrade has refused to join Western sanctions against Moscow since the 2022 invasion, and President Aleksandar Vucic has personally met with Vladimir Putin in Moscow, a rare move for a European leader during the war, according to AFP. Vucic used that meeting to call for strengthened cooperation and trade with Russia.

Zelensky isn't walking into friendly territory. He's walking into one of the most Moscow-aligned capitals in Europe.

Vucic Has Already Distanced Himself, But Not Much

Vucic skipped Russia's Victory Day Parade in Moscow this year, according to ZeroHedge, a notable break from tradition. He's also been accused of allowing Serbian-made arms to reach Ukraine through third parties, something he's flatly denied.

But distance doesn't equal defection. Vucic has been consistent and clear: Serbia is not joining anti-Russian sanctions. He's said the country's position "will remain unchanged."

There's a hard economic reason why. Serbia depends heavily on Russian energy. Just last week, Serbia secured another sanctions waiver from the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control for NIS, the Russian-owned company that operates Serbia's only oil refinery, according to ZeroHedge. Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic confirmed the waiver extends NIS's ability to import Russian crude until August 28, while Hungary's MOL negotiates buying out the Russian majority stake in the company.

Serbia isn't cutting ties with Russian oil. It's stalling for time while a European buyer works out a deal.

What's Actually On the Table Saturday

According to regional media cited by ZeroHedge, Zelensky and Vucic are expected to discuss Ukraine's push toward EU membership, energy cooperation, and broader economic ties. Vucic himself framed it modestly, saying the two sides would discuss "how and in what ways we can help each other" on EU integration, along with cooperation in "culture, sports, and everything else."

Zelensky is likely to press Vucic to take a tougher public stance against Moscow. He's done this tour before, hitting capitals around the world since 2022 to drum up support for Ukraine's defense. Serbia is notably one of the last major holdouts in Europe he hasn't visited.

Serbia is also formally seeking EU membership, and Brussels has made clear it's unhappy with Belgrade's continued warmth toward Moscow, according to AFP. That gives Zelensky some leverage to argue that closer ties with Kyiv and the West could help Serbia's EU bid. Whether that argument moves Vucic, who has navigated this balancing act for years without picking a side, remains to be seen.

The Unresolved Question

Nobody covering this trip is predicting Serbia flips on Russia after one visit. The real test is whether Vucic offers Zelensky anything concrete Saturday on sanctions, energy, or EU-track cooperation, or whether this ends up being a photo-op that Kyiv can point to as progress while Belgrade keeps buying Russian crude under U.S. waivers that expire August 28.