Russian aid to Serbia is long-term, says minister
Belgrade, 24 March: Russian Emergencies Minister Sergey Shoygu cut short his working visit to the Montenegrin capital
Podgorica and arrived in Belgrade today, sources in the delegation accompanying the minister on his visit to Serbia and
Montenegro have said. Shoygu intends to meet two Russian aircraft arriving in Belgrade and carrying humanitarian aid for
Kosovo refugees. [Passage omitted]
Shoygu said that Russian aid "is not just an one-off measure, it will be long-term". He stressed the
importance of "stopping the non-Albanian exodus from Kosovo and building long-term relations with the governments
of Serbia and Montenegro in the humanitarian sphere". [Passage omitted]
[In a separate report at 1009 gmt ITAR-TASS said that the first Il-76 had arrived in Belgrade and the other aircraft
is expected to arrive shortly. The agency quoted Sergey Shoygu as saying that the assistance project will be implemented
in three stages: setting up two tent camps to house 100 people each; to provide refugees with food and medicines; to
carry out preparatory work to build a settlement for 200 families.]
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