Croatian President Says Invited Putin to Visit Zagreb During Visit in October

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic said she had invited Russian leader Vladimir Putin to pay a state visit to Zagreb.

Grabar-Kitarovic said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper that she had extended her invitation during her visit to the Russian resort city of Sochi in October and reiterated the invitation at the Russia-hosted 2018 FIFA World Cup which ended earlier in July. This would be Putin's first state visit to the Croatian capital.

Croatia's president earlier visited Russia to cheer for her national football team at the FIFA World Cup. Grabar-Kitarovic received her fan ID for the World Cup and flew economy class to Russia on July 1, becoming a star in Russian media.

The Croatian president stressed in an interview that the expulsion of a Russian diplomat from Croatia in the wake of a poisoning incident in Salisbury in March did not affect the relationship between Moscow and Zagreb.

READ MORE: Number One Fan: Croatian President Gears Up for World Cup Finale (PHOTOS)

Previously, Russian Ambassador in Croatia Anvar Azimov said that as Croatia supports all EU decisions, the sanctions regime against Moscow does more harm to Croatia, adding that the Croatian public and business community widely oppose the anti-Russian sanction.