Russian stance on Kosovo "identical to Serbia's"

MOSCOW The position of the Russian Federation regarding Kosovo "fully coincides with that of Serbia" - and it is that Kosovo is not a state. This is what members of the Serbian Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee were told on Tuesday during a visit to the State Duma in Moscow. Russian stance on Kosovo "identical to Serbia's" The Russian stance on the Kosovo issue is unquestionable and completely identical to Serbia's - Kosovo is not a state, Milos Aligrudic (DSS), who headed the Serbian delegation, told Tanjug. Aligrudic said Moscow's position regarding Kosovo can be seen in what Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and President Vladimir Putin told Serbia's PM Ivica Dacic last week - that Russia cannot fight Serbia's battle. "We are the ones who need to say what we want. And our requests must be in line with the principles of international law," said Aligrudic, an MP from the opposition Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS). Asked whether Russia's more active involvement in the talks on Kosovo was discussed in the meeting with representatives of the Duma, Aligrudic said this is primarily up to the Serbian side. The Serbian delegation met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov and deputy speakers of the State Duma Ivan Melnikov and Sergey Zheleznyak. Aligrudic says Zheleznyak proposed an interesting idea of forming a standing interparliamentary dialogue of Balkan countries, which would include countries of the former Yugoslavia, Romania, Turkey and Greece. "The purpose of the dialogue would be to find common points and have parliamentarians discussing key topics - political, economic, cultural," said Aligrudic, adding that Serbian lawmakers supported the idea. Tanjug

Russian stance on Kosovo "identical to Serbia's"

The Russian stance on the Kosovo issue is unquestionable and completely identical to Serbia's - Kosovo is not a state, Milos Aligrudić (DSS), who headed the Serbian delegation, told Tanjug.

Aligrudić said Moscow's position regarding Kosovo can be seen in what Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and President Vladimir Putin told Serbia's PM Ivica Dačić last week - that Russia cannot fight Serbia's battle.

"We are the ones who need to say what we want. And our requests must be in line with the principles of international law," said Aligrudić, an MP from the opposition Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS).

Asked whether Russia's more active involvement in the talks on Kosovo was discussed in the meeting with representatives of the Duma, Aligrudić said this is primarily up to the Serbian side.

The Serbian delegation met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov and deputy speakers of the State Duma Ivan Melnikov and Sergey Zheleznyak.

Aligrudić says Zheleznyak proposed an interesting idea of forming a standing interparliamentary dialogue of Balkan countries, which would include countries of the former Yugoslavia, Romania, Turkey and Greece.

"The purpose of the dialogue would be to find common points and have parliamentarians discussing key topics - political, economic, cultural," said Aligrudić, adding that Serbian lawmakers supported the idea.