Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that he views the early delivery of Russian combat helicopters as Moscow’s extended hand prior to his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Serbian military took delivery of four Mi-35Ma multi-role combat helicopters which were flown in to Batajnica air base on an An-124 transport aircraft on Monday.

Vucic told the Serbian state TV (RTS) in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi that the “extremely powerful machines” with “fantastic” weapons systems would be presented to the public in the next few days.

“Serbia is increasingly stronger. We had three or four Mi-8 and Mi-17 helicopters and a few Gazelles and today we have a helicopter fleet four or five times bigger than a few years ago. Besides the helicopters from Russia, two Airbus helicopters came from Europe recently. We are doing this to deter any attempt to endanger Serbia,” the president said.