YEKATERINBURG, July 9. /TASS/. Kosovo has been and will always be part of Serbia, Nenad Popovic, Minister without Portfolio in the Government of Serbia, told TASS on the sidelines of the 16th Innoprom exhibition.

"If it were not for your President [Vladimir] Putin, who put a veto in the [UN] Security Council twenty years ago, Kosovo would have left Serbia, but Kosovo has always been and will remain an integral part of the Republic of Serbia. Serbia will never agree to any other option. Kosovo is historically our territory, formed as part of the state of Serbia," he emphasized.

Popovic noted that Belgrade feels "Russia’s constant support on international platforms, especially on the issue of territorial integrity and the southern region, Kosovo." "Despite pressure from the Western world, most EU countries, and the US, Serbia will never agree to surrender its southern region," he concluded.