Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic says Serbia wants new friendships and good relations with the United States - but will not neglect its "old friends."

Commenting on the US State Department's announcement that it will, together with the US Department of Defense, next year draft a report on cooperation of the Western Balkan countries with the US, but also with Russia - Dacic said that "everyone should do their job."

The crucial states of the European Union do not have political readiness to accept Western Balkans states in the EU, said participants at the discussion “Global Winds of Change and Consequences on the Western Balkans,” organized by the Centre for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD), N1 reported today.

Belgrade and Pristina decide about goals, pace and who participates or mediates in their dialogue about normalizing relations.

This stems from the explanation Beta received from sources in the European External Action Service (EEAS).

Serbian Defense Minister, Aleksandar Vulin says that Moscow's readiness to engage in Belgrade's dialogue with Pristina - if the format changes - changes everything.

According to Vulin "this actually means the return of the United Nations to the negotiations".

Vulin also said that Serbia was "under great pressure from Albanians who are trying to impose the United States as participants in the dialogue".

If there are attempts to expand the format of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and involve the USA, Russian Federation is also ready to get involved in this dialogue, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told Tanjug news agency.

“We have reached some sort of agreement, if there would be attempts and intentions to expand the format of participants and intermediaries in the talks between Serbs and Albanians, and if Americans would like to become a part of that format,” Vucic said during the meeting with the President of the Russian Federation Council, Valentina Matvijenko and added:

UNITED NATIONS - The United States is seeking a $250 million cut to the core budget of the United Nations for 2018-2019, on top of $200 million in savings already proposed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, diplomats said Tuesday.
The budget is under negotiations in a General Assembly committee which is expected to adopt it before the end of December.

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic spoke with US Secretary of State Rex Tilerson on Thursday in Vienna.

According to a Serbian MFA statement carried by Beta, Dacic told Tillerson that representatives of the old US establishment who defend their policy from the 1990s cannot be the ones to bring changes to the US foreign policy.

Centre of Foreign Policy Director, Aleksandra Joksimovic said to RTK 2 that the format of the Brussels dialogue would not change, but the USA will be more active in the process of normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina.

Joksimovic also said she does not believe legally binding document would request from Serbia to recognize Kosovo, but would seek that both Belgrade and Pristina unimpeded move towards the European integration.

The USA Embassy in Belgrade found out about requests that the USA would take part in the Brussels dialogue from the Serbian media, the USA Embassy in Belgrade told Danas daily.

Asked to comment if they know more than what appears in the media and is related to the involvement of the USA in the Brussels agreement, and whether such reporting is accurate when it comes to the involvement and names that are being mentioned as possible persons to carry out that job, the USA Embassy said they are also reading about that in the media, Danas reported further.

Pristina's claim that possible future US involvement in dialogue with Belgrade is a proposal coming from the official US administration is "incorrect," Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, who in Washington, told Voice of America, Tanjug reports today.

"The things that Thaci and Haradinaj are saying have been denied by the US administration. They even told (EU foreign policy chief) Federica Mogherini that they were not standing behind (Pristina's) statements," Dacic said.