BELGRADE, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Serbia and Russia are willing to continue mutual political support and expand economic cooperation, visiting Chairwoman of the Federation Council of Russia Valentina Matviyenko said in a joint conference with President Aleksandar Vucic on Tuesday.
Vucic said that Serbia is firmly dedicated to further developing political relations with Russia on the foundation of the strategic partnership between the two countries and to deepen them in all areas.
He thanked the Russia for its consistent support to Serbia's territorial integrity and sovereignty in order to achieve a "peaceful and diplomatic solution for the issue of the province of Kosovo and Metohija," which unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008.
"Serbia is neutral when it comes to military relations and it will maintain its neutrality. It is also on the European path, but it did not impose sanctions to Russia, nor it plans to impose them in the future," Vucic said.
Vucic said that Russia is among the leading strategic, economic and trading partners of Serbia, and expressed thanks for Russia's support in international organizations, as well as for the donations of military equipment.
"In the future, Serbia will focus on strengthening of economic cooperation with Russia, within the framework of the free trade agreement" he said, adding that the existing cooperation in the areas of energy, agriculture, telecommunications and other areas should be strengthened as well.
Matviyenko said that Russia "highly appreciates Serbia's independent political approach and its readiness to cooperate with Russia", and passed greetings of the president Vladimir Putin and his wish to continue building relations during Vucic's upcoming visit to Moscow.
Speaking at the special session of the Serbian parliament Monday, Matviyenko said Russia will never recognize the independence of Kosovo, and that it is inadmissible for Serbia to be put under an "artificial choice -- Russia or the West, as nothing in the world could crush the friendship and cooperation of Serbia and Russia."
She said that cooperation between the two countries develops in different areas, "from business to education and from culture to science," and that the trade between Serbia and Russia increased by 16 percent, while the investments are in increase especially in energy and transport.
She reminded that there are ongoing talks between Serbia and the Eurasian Economic Commission on the unification of the trade regime in the context of the initiative to form a large Eurasian space, initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Successful completion of negotiations will bring Serbia to a new level of cooperation with the Euro-Asian Economic Union, which will ensure the expansion of the market for Serbian goods," Matviyenko said.