"Concrete issues" to be discussed with Putin - PM

"Concrete issues" to be discussed with Putin - PM

MOSCOW -- Serbian PM Aleksandar Vučić has said that "many concrete issues" will be discussed during Thursday's visit to Belgrade of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I believe that Vladimir Vladimirovich appreciated during our previous meeting that we prefer concrete issues at talks," he was quoted as telling the TASS news agency.

Serbian products exported to Russia must be of top quality, Vučić said, while the situation when this was not true "must under no circumstances happen again."

"Our spiritual ties are one thing, fulfilling what we must on the highest level is another. With that, we could consider many issues in Serbia. We are open to cooperation in all areas of public life," he said, according to a Beta news agency report, and added that Putin's visit should benefit both countries.

Speaking about the South Stream gas pipeline, Vučić said that Serbia had found itself "in a complicated situation but thanks to the willingness of the president of Russia to meet us halfway we came to terms quickly and easily with Russia."

"We should discuss how and where we proceed in the South Stream issue," he was quoted as saying on the TASS website, and adding:

"But not everything depends on Serbia."South Stream cannot begin on the border between Serbia and Bulgaria and end on the border between Serbia and Hungary. This should pass through Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria and all other countries. As for Serbia, we have done our part, all the rest depends from others."

Vučić spoke positively about the work of the Russian-Serbian Emergency Situations Center in Niš, especially its activities during the May floods in Serbia, and said he hoped...