MOSCOW, August 1. /TASS/. The collective West has the delusion it will be able to put Serbia in a position where Belgrade will be no longer able to adhere to its stance of avoiding the adoption of sanctions against Moscow, Russia’s ambassador to Serbia, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, said on the Rossiya-24 round-the-clock television news channel on Monday.

"The collective West is pursuing a very important aim - to employ pressures and provocations to force it (Belgrade - TASS) into a position where it will be no longer able to adhere to its stance of rejecting and firmly refusing to join the EU’s anti-Russian measures and sanctions. The West thinks it will succeed, but it is fundamentally wrong. I am certain about this," Botsan-Kharchenko said.

He stressed that Kosovo and Republika Srpska were the two targets in the focus of increased pressure on Belgrade.

"The aim in the current situation, given all the processes and instability that exist, is to force Belgrade to give up assistance to Republika Srpska, to turn away from it. As for Kosovo, due to the current circumstances, being at an impasse, to agree to recognize Kosovo," the Botsan-Kharchenko said.

On Sunday evening, the situation in Kosovo and Metohija worsened sharply after the police of the unrecognized entity closed the checkpoints on the administrative line with Serbia, intending to impose a ban on Serbian documents as of Monday. In response, Serbs in the northern part of Kosovo took to the streets to demonstrate and block the main roads. Sirens were heard in a number of cities in the north of the region. Police and personnel of the international security force in Kosovo KFOR, operating under the auspices of NATO, were moved to the bridge across the Ibar River, which connects the northern and southern neighborhoods of Kosovska-Mitrovica. As a result of international efforts, Pristina postponed the procedure of enforcing the ban on Serbian documents till 1 September.