Washington likely culprit behind Kosovo independence ultimatum, says Lavrov

The United States is bound to have encouraged Kosovo to issue an ultimatum-like demand, at the beginning of March, to recognize its independence, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with NTV channel for a documentary entitled Primakov's Loop

"A few days ago, in early March, Pristina published its negotiation platform, which is nothing more than an ultimatum and says that Kosovo’s independence must be recognized without any conditions, and the Serbs do not and cannot have the right to influence this decision. Washington "swallowed" it," Lavrov pointed out. "I even believe that Washington encouraged Pristina to take this reckless step."

According to the Russian diplomatic chief, European countries haven’t voiced their opinions on this demand so far, however, they are unlikely to have any effect on Kosovo. Lavrov stressed that Pristina blatantly ignores the EU’s efforts to mend relations between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo.

On March 7, the parliament of Kosovo passed a bill laying the foundation for the negotiating platform with Belgrade to resolve the Kosovo conflict. The bill stipulates that the Kosovo authorities reject any exchange of territories with Serbia, and that Belgrade must unconditionally recognize Kosovo’s independence, in addition it proposes establishing a tribunal to deal with alleged Serbian crimes against Albanians.

Kosovo independence
Russia’s top diplomat recalled that back in 2008 Western countries unilaterally recognized Kosovo’s independence to justify NATO aggression against Yugoslavia, although there were no objective reasons to suspend the talks between Belgrade and Pristina under the UN auspices.

"Nobody was attacking anyone. However, the West’s statements that they were forced to unilaterally recognize Kosovo as an independent state because Serbs were threatening Albanians in Kosovo were absolutely farfetched and unfounded. The course to undermine international law continued in 2011, when NATO members unleashed aggression against Libya brutally distorting UN resolutions," he added. "In this case, the country was left in ruins just like Iraq, but it is still impossible to "reassemble" it, there are too many problems here."

Lavrov pointed out that the actions that had been taken by the Western coalition fostered and prompted terrorism, global crime, drug trafficking and illegal migration.

"This policy to pursue these escapades that started back then is still alive today. It is clear that international law is being further and further substituted with rules, cooked up exclusively for the US and their allies," the top diplomat concluded.