Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned on Friday that any solution on Kosovo's future that is not within a UN framework would take Europe on a "slippery downward slope" to instability. "Anybody who goes in contravention of this is on a very slippery downward slope. It certainly won't help the stability of Europe," he told reporters in Brussels after talks with Nato counterparts.
Russia's top diplomat affirmed Moscow's objections to Kosovo declaring independence, a move which, if managed carefully, would have the support of the United States and major European powers. "We are only for a solution that would be acceptable for both sides, Belgrade and Pristina," he said. "If it's settled the way we think it's going to be settled, then it will be a precedent.
"I should like to urge once again everybody who talks publicly about the possibility of independence of Kosovo not to camouflage that discussion in some kind of dishonest way," he said. Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders have said they will declare independence some time after December 10, when international negotiators present their final report to the UN.
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