Lavrov: Russia will veto independence

Sergey Lavrov says Russia will veto any proposals for recognizing a unilateral declaration of independence by Pristina. The Russian foreign minister said that the plans of the U.S. and the EU to bypass the UN in determining Kosovo’s status were “in effect, the first attempt to say that the UN no longer mattered to the West” and that they would “settle complicated problems outwith the UN.” Lavrov: Russia will veto independence “Our position is based on international law. Contravening Security Council resolutions, free interpretation of rulings passed by consensus, ignoring the Charter of an international organization that stipulates the sovereign equality of all nation states and their territorial integrity, or breaching the founding principles of the Helsinki Final Act are extremely dangerous games,” said Lavrov. Sergey Lavrov (FoNet) "Kosovo neither EU or NATO's responsibility" The international presence in Kosovo is not the responsibility of either the EU or NATO, says Russia's Troika envoy. “A unilateral declaration of independence and sending a mission to Kosovo, bypassing the UN, would be the most blatant breach of the basic norms of international law, the UN Charter, and the basic principles of peacekeeping, with all the consequences arising from it,” said Aleksandr Botsan-Kharchenko in an interview with Channel One on Russian state TV last night. Botsan-Kharchenko represented Russia as a mediator during the Belgrade-Pristina negotiations over the province’s future that ended on December 10. After the UN Security Council session on Wednesday, European and U.S. representatives announced their intention to assume responsibility for Kosovo’s fate, considering further talks futile, while the EU intends to send a police mission to the province. Moscow is of the opinion that the UN mission can only be replaced via a UN Security Council resolution. Sutanovac: We won’t use force Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac said last night that, in the event of a unilateral declaration of independence from Pristina, Serbia would not defend Kosovo by force. Speaking to Studio B, Sutanovac said that the question of status was primarily political-legal, and not military. “We cannot defend Kosovo by force as we do not have either the force or the support from anyone to do something like that,” he said. According to the defense minister, Serbian citizens ought to know that they would, in such a scenario, be in conflict with KFOR and NATO, which would in turn “have consequences for citizens.” “We won’t defend Serbs as they are defended in Krajina and Bosnia. There are no more Serbs in those places where they’re defended like that. I don’t think that’s the solution for Kosovo,” he explained. Sutanovac said that “there are politicians calling for war,” and that they were, for the most part, “the same ones who called for war in the nineties.”

Lavrov: Russia will veto independence

“Our position is based on international law. Contravening Security Council resolutions, free interpretation of rulings passed by consensus, ignoring the Charter of an international organization that stipulates the sovereign equality of all nation states and their territorial integrity, or breaching the founding principles of the Helsinki Final Act are extremely dangerous games,” said Lavrov.

"Kosovo neither EU or NATO's responsibility"

The international presence in Kosovo is not the responsibility of either the EU or NATO, says Russia's Troika envoy.

“A unilateral declaration of independence and sending a mission to Kosovo, bypassing the UN, would be the most blatant breach of the basic norms of international law, the UN Charter, and the basic principles of peacekeeping, with all the consequences arising from it,” said Aleksandr Botsan-Kharchenko in an interview with Channel One on Russian state TV last night.

Botsan-Kharchenko represented Russia as a mediator during the Belgrade-Priština negotiations over the province’s future that ended on December 10.

After the UN Security Council session on Wednesday, European and U.S. representatives announced their intention to assume responsibility for Kosovo’s fate, considering further talks futile, while the EU intends to send a police mission to the province.

Moscow is of the opinion that the UN mission can only be replaced via a UN Security Council resolution.

Šutanovac: We won’t use force

Defense Minister Dragan Šutanovac said last night that, in the event of a unilateral declaration of independence from Priština, Serbia would not defend Kosovo by force.

Speaking to Studio B, Šutanovac said that the question of status was primarily political-legal, and not military. “We cannot defend Kosovo by force as we do not have either the force or the support from anyone to do something like that,” he said.

According to the defense minister, Serbian citizens ought to know that they would, in such a scenario, be in conflict with KFOR and NATO, which would in turn “have consequences for citizens.”

“We won’t defend Serbs as they are defended in Krajina and Bosnia. There are no more Serbs in those places where they’re defended like that. I don’t think that’s the solution for Kosovo,” he explained.

Šutanovac said that “there are politicians calling for war,” and that they were, for the most part, “the same ones who called for war in the nineties.”