Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that U.N. Security Council members would meet to discuss the status of Kosovo on Thursday.
Everything should be done to "prevent negative effects," Lavrov told a press conference here when asked how Russia would respond to Kosovo's independence.
He said a U.N. Security Council meeting on Thursday will "frankly discuss the Kosovo issue."
Lavrov made the remarks after his meeting with top officials of the European Union (EU), including foreign policy chief Javier Solana, External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, France's Minister for European Affairs Jean-Pierre Jouyet and Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, whose country holds the current EU presidency.
Lavrov said a unilateral declaration of independence for Kosovo would be "a mistake."
What Russia did was guided by international and U.N. laws and "I do hope that our EU partners are also guided by the same laws," he said.
The EU is set to send a 1,800-strong civilian mission to Kosovo soon. Russia and Serbia strongly oppose independence for Kosovo and the deployment of EU missions there.
The top Russian diplomat said it was possible Serbia and Kosovo would renegotiate on the Serbian breakaway province's status. "If everyone demonstrates a political will and if everyone observes U.N. laws, then the negotiations will be fruitful."
Before the meeting, Ferrero-Waldner told reporters that Russia and Serbia demanded an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Kosovo on Thursday, but she said the EU believed the meeting was not necessary.
"We do hope to be able to convince Russia that the status quo (in Kosovo) is unsustainable," she said. |
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