Russia's late UN envoy posthumously given Serbian decoration

Vucic described the meeting with Putin, that will take place on Tuesday, as "big and important."

On Monday evening, Vucic presented the wife of late Russian Ambassador to the UNVitaly Churkin, Irina Churkina, with the Order of the Serbian Flag 1st Class.

In a ceremony at the Serbian embassy in Moscow, Vucic said that it was thanks to Churkin that the Serbs had not been labelled as a genocidal nation.

"Vitaly Churkin left a major mark in Russian and world diplomacy. The Serbian people will remember Churkin as a person who struggled for justice in Kosovo and also in Bosnia-Herzegovina," Vucic said, according to Beta.

Churkin was known as a great friend of Serbia, who as Russia's representative voted to block a draft British UN Security Council resolution on Srebrenica, and during the body's sessions dedicated to Kosovo energetically criticized Pristina institutions, warning that the situation in the province was far from what the authorities there wished to make it appear to be.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic earlier on Monday toured Moscow's Zaryadye science and technology park, situated by the Red Square and the Kremlin.

In the Time Machine Hall, Vucic and the Serbian delegation were given a presentation of Moscow from its earliest days to the present time, Tanjug reported.

"Projects for the coming year"

The topics of Thursday's talks with Putin have not been officially announced, and after Russia delivered six donated MIG-29s to Serbia, "the only thing certain is that further improvement of military cooperation will be high on the agenda of the two presidents," Tanjug said in an article early on Monday.

During a recent visit by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to...