BELGRADE. Jan 17 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said he hoped his talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic would lay groundwork for continued development in relations between the two countries.
"Russia is perhaps one of the largest, if not the largest, investors in Serbia's economy. Indeed, our relations are developing along numerous tracks, including the energy sector, high technology, and transport infrastructure," Putin said before Russian-Serbian broad-format negotiations in Belgrade on Thursday.
Humanitarian and cultural ties play quite a substantial role, he said.
"We continue to interact in the military field, in the security sphere, our law enforcement agencies and prosecutor general's office work together, and we are continuing to train Serbian personnel," Putin said.
Putin said that, when he mentioned military cooperation, he also implied imports from Serbia to Russia.
"You know, not only do we supply military hardware, but we also buy military materiel from Serbia, including combat hardware. In other words, this is full-scale mutual work, and it goes both ways," he said.
Putin said he hoped that, "during today's joint work, conditions will be provided for further steps toward the development of bilateral cooperation."