Vladimir Putin

China's top diplomat Wang Yi will visit Russia this week for a security meeting of BRICS emerging economies, Beijing's foreign ministry announced Monday.

Russia on Sunday said its forces had advanced in eastern Ukraine as Kiev reported deadly air attacks and urged the West to allow it to carry out more retaliatory strikes inside Russia.

Russian attack drones flying towards Ukraine also breached the airspace of NATO members Romania and Latvia, the countries said Sunday, triggering calls for a robust response from the military alliance.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky made a fresh appeal Friday for more weapons to counter the threat from advancing Russian forces in the east of the country and Moscow's devastating missile strikes.

BELGRADE - Serbian Deputy PM Aleksandar Vulin said on Friday President Aleksandar Vucic had not turned down an invitation by Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend an upcoming BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, and that the two presidents would discuss the matter by phone.

MALI ZVORNIK - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Friday that, due to already scheduled visits, he would see whether he would be able to attend an upcoming BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin and added that a decision on this would be made between October 10 and 15.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met on Sept. 6 with top United States military leaders and more than 50 partner nations in Germany to press for more weapons support as Washington announced it would provide another $250 million in security assistance to Kiev.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic revealed on Thursday that he had received an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the BRICS summit scheduled for October 22-24 in Kazan. However, Vucic stated that he would be hosting important foreign guests during that period.

President Vladimir Putin stated that Ukraine's ongoing incursion into Russia's Kursk region, which has lasted for several weeks, was intended to slow the Russian advance in Ukraine's Donbas region, but it has not succeeded. Speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Putin emphasized that capturing Donbas remains Moscow's primary objective in the full-scale war launched in 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he was ready for talks with Ukraine, after having previously rebuffed the idea of negotiations while Kyiv's offensive into the Kursk region was ongoing.

SABAC - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday he had received Russian President Vladimir Putin's invitation to the October 22-24 BRICS summit in Kazan about ten days ago but that he would have important guests from abroad at the time of the event.