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UNSC meeting on Kosovo marks progress in crisis settlement efforts — Russian diplomat

"Former Western partners are more focused on confrontation rather than cooperation within the Security Council," Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko noted

BELGRADE, February 9. /TASS/. Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko believes the February 8 meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the situation of ethnic Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija is a step in the right direction toward solving the crisis.

"I am sure that this is progress. It is a turning point in the settlement and resolution of the Kosovo crisis. In any case, this is the first step, the first ray of hope that things are moving in the right direction," he said.

"Kosovo, as a subject for discussion, needs to be addressed on the sidelines of the UN Security Council, bearing in mind the fact that objectively the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina demonstrates that it cannot yield anything. The most serious problem is that there is no change on the ground, or more precisely, the situation is only getting worse. Evidently, the Security Council should be more actively involved [in the settlement effort] on the basis of resolution 1244, because this is an internationally-recognized legal basis for the resolution of the entire crisis, with due account for Belgrade and Serbia’s interests," the Russian diplomat said.

"Former Western partners are more focused on confrontation rather than cooperation within the Security Council, but, despite this, it was the best opportunity for Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to inform the world community about the real state of affairs in Kosovo and Metohija," he added.

During his speech at the UN Security Council, the Serbian leader called on the world community to take urgent measures to normalize the situation in Kosovo, prevent the further harassment of Serbs and create conditions for the resumption of a substantive dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina in conformity with the UN Charter and Security Council resolutions.

He said earlier that the emergency meeting of the UN Security Council had been called following another round of provocative steps by Kosovo’s authorities. According to Vucic, he issued separate letters to EU and UNSC representatives, where he stressed the inadmissibility of Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s actions.

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