At the invitation of the British side, Foreign and Defence Ministries of the two countries held a round of bilateral consultations in the field of security and defence policy in London, on 9-10 March 2020.

The delegation of the Republic of Serbia was headed by Ambassador Branimir Filipovic, Acting Assistant Foreign Minister for security policy, and Milan Rankovic, Acting Assistant Defence Minister for defence policy, while the British side was led by Andrew Page, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Western Balkans Director, and Nick Gurr, Director for International Security Policy of the UK Ministry of Defence.

Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia in London Aleksandra Joksimovic and British Ambassador in Belgrade Sian MacLeod also took part in the consultations, while a section of the talks included the presence of Angus Lapsley, Director General for Strategy and International Affairs of the Ministry of Defence, and Giles Portman, the Foreign Office Director of the European Directorate.

In a constructive atmosphere, views were exchanged on a wide range of topics of mutual interest, focusing on the prospects for the further promotion of bilateral relations in the field of security and defence policies of the two countries, but also regarding other aspects of bilateral cooperation, environmental protection and support to the Republic of Serbia along its EU integration path. They focused special attention on the situation in the Western Balkan region, initiatives towards a deeper regional connectivity and the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.

The hosts of this round of consultations informed the Serbian side about the British foreign policy priorities after Brexit and about the preparations for the 2020 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, to be held in Glasgow in November 2020. The Serbian delegation presented to its collocutors in detail the foreign policy priorities of the Republic of Serbia, while stressing the European integration process, situation in the Western Balkan region, and in particular the situation in Kosovo and Metohija and the role played by the international security presence in the Province, including the current situation concerning the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue the continuation of which depended on the imperative of lifting the discriminatory tariffs on goods originating from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, unilaterally imposed by Pristina a year and a half ago.