Aleksandar Vucic thanks Russia and Putin for providing military aid to Serbia

 Vucic giving a book as a gift to Putin

 Has arrived in Serbia the first contingent of military aid from Moscow with tanks and armored vehicles, which Romania did not allow last week to transit on its territory due to EU sanctions on Moscow. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic thanked today his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, for modernizing his country's military, but refused to indicate of how the military equipment had arrived. Russia's military aid to Serbia has raised concerns in the West that it could endanger fragile peace in the Balkans.

Serbian President Alexander Vucic today thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for modernizing Serbia's military forces by providing his country with tanks and armor.

"I will repeat it for those who do not know: weapons are a gift, completely modern tools from Russia. We haven't paid for them. Russia has paid for the modernization of forces, and I thank them. This increases significantly our military capability."

President Vucic spoke during the inspection of ten recently-arrived military armored vehicles at a Serbian military base.

"It is important for us to abide by international law and to bring military equipment to our territory..."

The military equipment arrived in Serbia despite opposition from neighboring Romania to allow their transit through the Danube River due to international sanctions on Moscow as a result of its actions in Ukraine.

The press reports that Russia used transport planes to send the military equipment to Serbia.

Russia has helped Serbia modernize its armed forces by raising security concerns in the Balkans.

Serbia has already received 6 MiG-29 fighter jets from Russia, and although it claims to be militarily neutral, it is negotiating additional arms purchases from Moscow, including fighter and transport helicopters and air defense systems.