The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, canceled the planned meeting with the Prime Minister of Serbia, Miloš Vučević in Belgrade, after he had earlier hosted the Minister of Economic Development of Russia, Maksim Reshetnikov, a figure affected by the Western sanctions for because of the war in Ukraine.
Earlier on Friday, the head of the EC met with the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, with whom she talked about Serbia's path towards integration into the European Union.
Vucevic met with Russia's Economic Development Minister Maksim Reshetnikov in the Serbian capital on Friday, on the day von der Leyen is in Serbia as part of her tour of the Western Balkans.
The Serbian government said that Vucevic and Reshetnikov discussed further strengthening economic and general cooperation between the two countries.
Reshetnikov is among a number of officials from Moscow who are under Western sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2022.
Reshetnikov said that Moscow "appreciates the balanced policy" of Serbia and its stance not to impose sanctions on Russia, according to the announcement.