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Zelenskyy Receives Honour Guard in Belgrade on 8 August 2026, Signs Path to Free Trade Deal with Serbia Despite Moscow Ties

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stood on the red carpet at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade on the morning of 8 August 2026 as an honour guard presented arms. The ceremony marked the formal start of the second day of his first official visit to Serbia since taking office in 2019. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stood beside him. The two leaders then held talks inside the palace before addressing the press.

The visit had begun the previous evening, 7 August 2026, when Zelenskyy arrived in Belgrade and dined with Vučić. On 8 August the schedule expanded. Zelenskyy also met Serbian Prime Minister Đuro Macut. Discussions covered infrastructure links, including ports and railways, the Danube Corridor connecting Ukraine to the Western Balkans and the European Union, energy cooperation ahead of winter, food security, and reconstruction projects in Ukrainian cities damaged by Russian strikes.

Both presidents stated that the two countries would complete a free trade agreement by the end of 2026. The deal has been under discussion for more than two decades. Ukraine had blocked earlier versions since 2005 over agricultural quotas and tariffs. Vučić described the prospective agreement as of utmost importance for Serbia’s World Trade Organization accession and its European Union membership path. Zelenskyy said the sides were working to have everything ready for signature before year-end.

Separately, on 8 August at the Palace of Serbia, a memorandum of understanding on animal health and food safety was signed. Serbian Agriculture Minister Dragan Glamočić and Ukraine’s ambassador to Serbia, Oleksandr Lytvynenko, put their names to the document.

Vučić publicly reaffirmed Serbia’s support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, including areas seized by Russia since 2014, and for the United Nations Charter. He stopped short of any commitment to impose sanctions on Russia, Serbia’s long-standing energy and political partner. Zelenskyy thanked Serbia for a new package of humanitarian assistance, particularly in healthcare and energy. Serbia pledged €2 million specifically for Ukraine’s energy sector. Trade figures were also cited: bilateral trade reached about 450 million US dollars in the previous year and already stood at roughly 321 million US dollars in the first six months of 2026, with iron ore among the leading Ukrainian exports to Serbia.

The meetings took place against the backdrop of continued Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Zelenskyy noted that virtually no thermal power plants remained intact and that the coming winter would present severe challenges. The two sides discussed practical cooperation to mitigate those pressures.

Serbia continues to balance its European Union candidacy with historic and economic links to Moscow. Vučić faces domestic elections in the coming months. The decision to host Zelenskyy with full ceremonial honours, including the honour guard at the Serbia Palace, and to accelerate work on the free trade agreement, formed part of that balancing act. The free trade deal, once finalised, would remove remaining barriers that have limited commercial exchange since the early 2000s and would support Serbia’s broader integration goals.

By the close of the visit on 8 August 2026 the concrete outcomes were the shared commitment to finalise the free trade agreement before the end of the year, the signed memorandum on animal health and food safety, the €2 million energy support pledge, and the public reaffirmation of mutual support for territorial integrity. Infrastructure and logistics projects along the Danube Corridor were identified for further work. The honour guard ceremony and the palace meetings provided the formal setting in which these steps were taken.