Russia has no plan for Kosovo sanctions: foreign minister
LJUBLJANA (AFP) — Russia does not plan any punitive measures if Kosovo unilaterally declares independence from Serbia but is demanding an emergency UN Security Council meeting on the province, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.
"Russia does not have among its political instruments any measures for punishing anyone," Lavrov told a news conference here after an EU-Russia meeting.
But he said Moscow was convinced that "it would be a mistake" for Kosovo to make its declaration of independence, which is widely expected on Sunday.
Lavrov met with EU external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero Waldner, EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana and Slovenian Foreign Minister Dmitrij Rupel at a time when Kosovo has driven a new wedge between Russia and the West.
The United States and most EU nations plan to recognise an independent Kosovo but Russia backs Serbia's case that it must retain control of the southern province.
Russia and Serbia have demanded an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Thursday on the "dangers" of Kosovo's moves to declare independence.
Lavrov said he was not optimistic about the outcome of the meeting but insisted that any decision on the future of Kosovo should be taken within the UN since "it is the body which has defined the parameters for the settlement in Kosovo, which some are trying to unilaterally bypass and undermine".
This, he said, included a planned EU police and legal mission in Kosovo which could replace the UN force there after independence.
In Geneva this week, the Russian foreign minister warned that any unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo would "undermine" European security and the UN Charter.
Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since mid-1999, after a NATO air assault drove out Serbian forces waging a brutal crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanian guerillas and their civilian supporters.
Reports in Belgrade cited Serbia's UN ambassador Pavle Jevremovic as saying the UN session was being sought because the independence moves would violate UN Security Council Resolution 1244.
In a letter, Jevremovic asked the council to assess the "extremely dangerous situation" in Kosovo "where we are witnesses to the final preparations for a unilateral declaration of independence," B92 television reported.
But Ferrero Waldner said the European Union believed the UN Security Council session was unnecessary.
"We do hope to be able to convince Russia that the status quo is unsustainable," she said, adding: "The legal ground for us in the EU is very clear, it's the 1244 UN resolution."
Coming at the end of Kosovo's 1998-1999 war, Resolution 1244 gave the disputed province "substantial autonomy" under Serbian sovereignty and put in place the UN mission and NATO-led peacekeepers.
On Tuesday, Belgrade stepped up its rhetoric against Kosovo's independence declaration, pledging various measures in retaliation as Moscow warned Europe's stability would be threatened by the move.
Nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said Serbia would "annul all illegal acts in relation to a unilateral proclamation of this fake state," while pro-Western President Boris Tadic called for "peace and restraint."
But despite the new warnings, Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders are pressing ahead with plans for the historic announcement, putting final touches on their declaration, constitution and celebration plans.
Kosovo's parliament is scheduled to meet on Friday to discuss several draft laws that are believed to pave the way for "supervised independence," as proposed by UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari.
