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MOSCOW : Russia on Friday blamed supporters of Kosovo's independence for triggering embassy attacks in Belgrade and warned NATO and the European Union against setting a precedent for "brute force" in Kosovo.
As Moscow flexed its diplomatic muscles, it also raised the prospect of Kosovo splitting along ethnic lines.
The rhetoric from the Russian foreign ministry and Moscow's envoy to NATO was part of a high-level campaign by Russia to block international recognition of Kosovo's independence.
"What happened yesterday in Belgrade can only be a cause for regret," foreign ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency, referring to riots in the Serbian capital which killed one and wounded 118.
"But we would like to point out that those forces that supported Kosovo's proclamation of independence should have been aware of the consequences of such a step," he continued.
Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has vehemently opposed Kosovo's independence declaration, reflecting Moscow's close ties with the leadership in Belgrade.
Since Kosovo's ethnic-Albanian majority declared independence on February 17, Russia has tried and failed to get the UN Security Council to declare the move null and void.
Moscow's newly-appointed representative to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, scaled up the rhetoric further on Friday, saying that support for Kosovo from the European Union or NATO would in turn give Russia the right to use its own "brute force" in future scenarios.
"If the European Union works out a common position, or if NATO breaches its mandate in Kosovo, these organisations will be in conflict with the United Nations," Rogozin was quoted as saying in a video link-up from Brussels.
"We too would then have to proceed from the view that in order to be respected we must use brute force, in other words armed force," Rogozin said, Interfax news agency reported.
He also firmly denied any role for Moscow in stirring up trouble in Belgrade.
European Commission spokesman Johannes Laitenberger responded to the remarks by saying that "speculation over the use of force is certainly not helpful in this situation".
The European Union does not have a common position on whether or not to recognise Kosovo, leaving the choice up to individual member states.
Rogozin also said he had received unconfirmed reports that NATO troops stationed in Kosovo were blocking the border with Serbia.
"This is not what we agreed. If this information is confirmed, then here in Brussels there will be some tough talking with our partners, and there could be quite a dramatic development in relations between Russia and NATO," he said.
NATO "must not in any way get involved with politics and must instead do what it has done up until now: take a neutral position of non-interference in internal affairs," he added.
The head of the Balkans section at Russia's foreign ministry, Alexander Botsan-Khartchenko, said he could not rule out a "schism" within Kosovo dividing Albanian and Serb-dominated areas.
"The situation threatens to bring about the isolation of Serbs in Kosovo who do not accept the unilateral declaration of independence by Pristina. That could lead to a split in Kosovo," he said.
Meanwhile, a Russian pro-Kremlin youth group said that some of its members planned to take part in a demonstration by Serbs in the ethnically-divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica in northern Kosovo.
The activists "have gone to support the Serbs but they did not take part in the riots" in Belgrade on Thursday, Alexei Khudyakov, a member of the Young Russia group, told Echo of Moscow radio. - AFP/ch
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