MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has vowed to prevent any violence or escalation against the background of current protest rallies in Belgrade, Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko said.

"Vucic firmly and publicly said yesterday, following a meeting of Serbia’s National Security Council, that he would not allow any violence or escalation of tensions. In this regard, I am completely confident that this is the way it will be," the envoy told the Rossiya-24 TV channel.

Vucic, in an emergency address to the nation, said that the attempt to storm Belgrade’s city hall by supporters of the pro-Western opposition had been prompted by external forces and was aimed at undermining the Balkan country’s sovereignty.

Earlier, the Serbian leader asserted that protests and provocative statements by the opposition would not produce any results because "power changes hands [in the country] only through elections."