Russia to keep supporting Serbia on Kosovo issue, ambassador says

28/08/2008

BELGRADE, Serbia -- Russian Ambassador to Belgrade Aleksandr Konuzin insisted Wednesday (August 27th) that Moscow's recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia would not weaken Serbia's position on Kosovo. He said Russia would continue to support Belgrade's stance."As far as Kosovo is concerned, I don't believe anything has changed," he said. "According to UN Security Council Resolution 1244, this territory is a territory of Serbia and its violent secession from the rest of the country is unacceptable," Konuzin said, adding that Kosovo had set a precedent by declaring independence unilaterally.

On Tuesday, Russia extended recognition to the two breakaway regions in Georgia, weeks after mounting an intervention in response to Tbilisi's efforts to assert control over the territories. Territorial integrity has been a keystone of Serbia's argument against Kosovo's independence.

In other news, Russian Ambassador to Tirana Aleksandr Prishchepov denied media reports on Wednesday in which Moscow accused Albania of selling weapons to Georgia in 2006. "Russia ... had mentioned a series of countries that sold weapons to Georgia, and it sees nothing wrong in the move; otherwise, we would have taken diplomatic action," he said. (Tanjug, RTS, B92, Alsat, Klan, BalkanWeb - 27/08/08)