Putin hopes Vučić becomes Serbian PM — Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly praised Serbia’s leadership and expressed hope that former Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić will become the country’s prime minister. Putin made the remarks during a plenary session of the Valdai Club on October 1, 2026.

Putin stated that Moscow highly values Belgrade’s “restrained stance” on refusing to introduce anti-Russian sanctions. He described the current Serbian leadership under Vučić as pursuing a balanced policy and showing a desire for cooperation with Russia. “We certainly welcome this and will respond in kind,” Putin said in response to a question from historian Aleksandar Raković.

The Russian leader also criticized the collective West for what he called an unjust and asymmetric attitude towards the Serbian people over recent decades. He argued that Serbs had become a forcibly divided people in Europe, a situation he deemed unfair and a source of potential complications and conflicts.