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 12 October 2008 00:28 BST

Russia's Medvedev backs Serbia on Kosovo independence

Monday, 25 Feb 2008 17:04
Serbian anger over Kosovo's independence resulted in an attack on the US embassy
Russian leaders have reiterated their support for Serbia's stance on Kosovo, directly opposing much of the international community.

Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was in Belgrade with Vladimir Putin's likely successor as Russian president, current deputy prime minister Dmitri Medvedev, to make Moscow's position clear.

Kosovo declared independence on February 17th from Serbia and was recognised by countries including the US, UK, France and Germany in the following week.

Today Russia continued its longstanding support of Serbia's position that Kosovo's declaration undermines international law.

The RIA Novosti news agency quoted Mr Lavrov as saying in an interview with the Vesti 24 news channel: "It is unacceptable that for the first time in the post-war history, a country which is a member of the United Nations has been divided in violation of all principles used in resolving territorial conflicts."

Mr Medvedev said Russia continued to view Serbia as a single state with jurisdiction over all its territory, including Kosovo.

"We will stick to this position," he added.

The former lawyer managed Mr Putin's 2000 presidential campaign and had been his chief-of-staff.

But his status as current chairman of Russian energy giant Gazprom also justified his presence in Serbia. Gazprom has recently acquired control over Serbian energy firm Serbiagas and has announced plans to build a new pipeline through the Balkan state.

The Kremlin announced its support for Mr Medvedev in the March 2nd presidential election on December 10th last year.End of story


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