President Aleksandar Vucic, who has been the target of protests in Belgrade, has been playing up his role defending Serbs in Kosovo, where tensions have recently flared.
Russia's Balkan ally Serbia is looking to France for fighter jets and the EU for infrastructure money in a move that could put them closer to EU membership, at the expense of its relationship with Russia.
A recent poll showed that 46 percent of Serbs believe that their country should stay neutral in the Russia-Ukraine war, confirming that a balancing act appears to be the least costly strategy for the Serbian government.