Serbia’s foreign minister Ivica Dacic has proposed a limited free trade zone with Russia and has assured Moscow the South Stream gas pipeline project is safe. Russian companies meanwhile expressed readiness to invest up to $1bn in Serbia’s infrastructure.

Under the plans put forward by the Serbian official, who is in Moscow until Wednesday for a session of the Intergovernmental committee on trade, economic and scientific and technical cooperation, the two countries should instantaneously drop tariffs on a number of goods, such as sugar, meat, poultry, cigarettes, alcohol and cars.