Marinkovic said that the two countries’ bilateral relations are at a very high level as evidenced by the official meetings of their respective presidents and members of parliament. The Deputy Speaker said that “what is good for Serbia is also good for Russia” and took the opportunity to thank Russia for its principled stance on the so-called independence of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo-Metohija. Marinkovic went on to say he was concerned about the stance of some Security Council member countries such as the US which want to move out of Kosovo-Metohija i.e. UNMIK to withdraw from the Autonomous Province. He also said that Serbia would not under any circumstances impose sanctions against Russia and will abide by the Free Trade Agreement signed in 2000. Marinkovic added that Serbia is grateful to Russia for supporting its strategic commitment to European integration.

Pushkov said that when he first visited Serbia as the Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, he saw no threat to damage the relationship between the two countries which support one another in a strategic alliance in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Security Council. He took the opportunity to speak about what he termed worrying global developments, mentioning the US wanting to back out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed back in 1987 which is the very basis of nuclear safety of both Russia and the US, as well as Europe as a whole. Pushkov said that this issue needs to be brought up in interparliamentary meetings such as the OSCE and Council of Europe. Marinkovic replied that no threat of force had ever resulted in anything good and that he hoped these statements would remain mere words and that the treaty would not be broken.

The officials also discussed a roundtable on security in the Balkans to be organized at the Federation Council. Finally Dragomir Karic, a well-known Russophile who maintains a strong connection with the Russian Federation, thanked Pushkov and his wife for the visit stressing that the relationship between the two countries cannot possibly fail because it are deeply rooted in cultural, church, economic and political relations.