Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia supports the Serb population in Kosovo and believes that its legitimate rights and interests must be protected.
“We unconditionally support Serbia and Serbs… We believe all legitimate rights and interests of Kosovo Serbs must be protected,” said Peskov in his daily press conference, adding that there should be no room for “provocative actions”.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that the situation in Kosovo is “alarming” and that it could provoke “another conflict in the center of Europe”.
In an earlier declaration, Russia asked the West to stop its “propaganda” after 30 soldiers of the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo were injured during clashes with Serbian protesters in Zvečan.
“We call on the West to finally silence its false propaganda and stop blaming incidents in Kosovo in Serbs driven to despair, who are peaceful, unarmed, trying to defend their legitimate rights and freedoms,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said.
Russia, which launched the invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February last year, is an ally of Serbia and constantly supports its actions against Kosovo’s independence.
In other news, the European Union Special Representative for the Pristina-Belgrade Dialogue Miroslav Lajčák will travel to Chișinău to meet with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
The capital city of Moldova will host the second summit of the European Political Community on Monday, launched in October 2022 in Prague, with the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron.
Lajčák will only travel there to discuss with Vučić on the latest developments in northern Kosovo, although there is yet no official comment from Belgrade on this matter.
According to unofficial sources, Lajčák will also stay in Pristina and Belgrade in coming days.
Meanwhile, Serbian Defense Minister Miloš Vučević reached the Raška garrison, close to the border with Kosovo, where part of the Serbian army is deployed.
Vučević will discuss the current security situation with high officials of the Serbian Armed Forces, which remain at a high level of combat readiness on orders of President Vučić, since the escalation of tensions in north Kosovo on May 26th.
