Serbian president says he spoke to his Russian counterpart for the first time in 2.5 years, and Putin showed no interest in a ceasefire in Ukraine

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told Bloomberg in an interview on Tuesday that he spoke to Vladimir Putin earlier this month for the first time in two and a half years. When Vucic asked Russia’s president about the possibility of a ceasefire, Putin reportedly dismissed the idea, saying that “all the goals of special military operations, as he said it, will be fulfilled.”

At the same time, Serbia’s president calls on the next U.S. president to “push through a truce that would get Russia and Ukraine on board to end the war.” Vucic told Bloomberg that a “truce” is the first step toward a long-term peace.