Ilya Arkhipov
bloomberg.com
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hand with Serbian President Boris Tadic during their meeting in Belgrade. Photographer: Andrej Isakovic/AFP/Getty Images
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin donned black leather and greeted the Night Wolves motorcycle club while on a visit to Belgrade, Serbia.
“Somehow, Putin belongs to us, to our bikers club, Night Wolves,” said Lenin Jovanovski. “We respect him for what he does for Slavic people and every situation in the world.”
Putin made a one-day trip to Belgrade yesterday, during which he took note of the approaching anniversary of the 1999 bombing of Serbia by the U.S. and allies during the Kosovo campaign. Russian opposition to that 78-day offensive, aimed against Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, prompted a rift with the West and Russia suspending cooperation with NATO.
Putin has said Western allies are on a “crusade” in Libya, and have been indiscriminately waging “strikes all over the country” after pocketing billions of dollars in contracts from Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi.
Following official talks with Serbian President Boris Tadic yesterday, Putin watched the second half of a soccer match between youth teams of the Russian Zenit St. Petersburg club and the Serbian Red Star club, sponsored by OAO Gazprom and OAO Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russia’s natural-gas exporter.
Night Wolves
At the stadium, Putin met with members of a branch of Russia’s Night Wolves bikers movement, including bikers Jovanovski and Angel Kievski.
Putin, in a black leather jacket, sat in the front row of the VIP seating area with the bikers on his right. Spectators chanted his name. Putin stood and greeted the crowd.
Putin has met before with bikers, leading a procession on a three-wheel motorcycle last July near Sevastopol, the base of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine. He may seek to reclaim the presidency in 2012.
Putin’s approval rating fell in March to 69 percent, a five-year low, the Levada Center said on its website today. Even so, the survey showed that Putin remains the nation’s most trusted politician, ahead of President Dmitry Medvedev.
The pollster surveyed 1,600 Russians on March 18-21. The results carry a margin of error of 3.4 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ilya Arkhipov in Moscow at iarkhipov@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net