BELGRADE, December 15. /TASS/. Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko has said Western countries are "twisting the arm" of the Serbian government over the Kosovo issue while simply pursuing their own interests, according to a statement released by the embassy on Thursday.

"As meetings are held in Belgrade and Pristina by Western emissaries, America’s [Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Gabriel] Escobar and <...> special representative [of the European Union for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Miroslav] Lajcak, who are trying, as they state, to disentangle the current escalation in Kosovo, top officials in Pristina openly and defiantly continue the policy of taking control of the province’s northern part that’s populated by Serbs. And they aren’t even thinking of backing down," the ambassador was quoted as saying in the embassy’s statement. "It raises the question about the true goal of the Westerners. It appears it’s to twist Belgrade’s arm once again."

The Russian diplomat said that the authorities’ submission of the unrecognized Kosovo’s application for accession to the European Union is "simply an egregious fact of the West acting in favor of the Kosovars."

"Where is the EU's commitment to the principles of EU enlargement to the so-called Western Balkan region, which, by the way, stipulates compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244? The picture that comes across is very unsightly and depressing. Although the words of the American special envoy Escobar that we should look on the bright side in every crisis - for all their seeming absurdity - are understandable. Apparently, the desperate situation of the Kosovo Serbs is something that puts the US in an optimistic mood," Botsan-Kharchenko said.

Earlier on Thursday, the prime minister of the self-proclaimed Kosovo, Albin Kurti, submitted an application to the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union to join the bloc.

Serbia previously said that Kosovo's application to join the EU would be a gross violation of the Washington agreements, which were signed on September 4, 2020 by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and the Prime Minister of unrecognized Kosovo Avdullah Hoti under pressure from US President Donald Trump. This document contains mutual commitments from Belgrade and Pristina, including a moratorium on Pristina's promotion of its candidacy to international organizations, as well as Belgrade's suspension of its work with world capitals aimed at revoking their recognition of Kosovo’s independence. In early August 2021, the parliament of unrecognized Kosovo refused to ratify the Washington agreements.

The Serbian autonomous province of Kosovo and Metohija declared independence in 2008 and has recently sought to join international organizations. More than half of the 193 UN countries, including Russia, India and China, oppose the recognition of Kosovo’s independence.