Putin: Washington threw UN resolution on Kosovo in the garbage
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned European countries against following US foreign policy and criticized them for their policy of double standards ahead of the EU emergency meeting on Monday on the recent conflict between Russia and Georgia
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Monday, September 01, 2008
The Russian premier said that Europe backed the US and supported Kosovo's declaration of independence in February, while the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 on Serbia's territorial integrity was "thrown in the garbage" at the White House orders.
Meanwhile,the Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachev said that Russia's position on Kosovo will not change.
"Our position on Kosovo, after the recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, remains unchanged: we hold that the recognition of Kosovo by a couple of Western countries is contrary to international law", Kosachev said.
"We are convinced that any modification of Serbian borders is possible only in case that the parties involved reach consent on the issue, and should this be the case, Russia will be ready to accept any solution that has been harmonised between Belgrade and Pristina:, he added.
The Russian parliamentarian and ranking official of the ruling United Party underlined that the claims that he did not rule out the possibility that after its recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Russia did the same thing in the case of Kosovo, represented a false interpretation of his position which was aimed at setting Serbia and Russia at odds.
"If such a stand is being attributed to me, then it is a complete falsification of my position. I have never claimed such a thing anywhere", Kosachev said.
