Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, meeting his Serbian counterpart Vuk Jeremic on July 17 2008, called for the resumption of direct negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina on the status of Kosovo, Russian news services Russia Today and RIA Novosti reported from Moscow.

Russia, the most powerful of Serbia’s staunch allies in rejecting Kosovo’s February 17 2008 declaration of independence, was adhering to its previous proposal to the UN Security Council about direct negotiations, Lavrov said.

“We’ve confirmed again to our Serbian partners that Russia will back any solution, any outcome acceptable to Belgrade. We stand on this important decision and it remains in force. We’ve agreed to closely co-ordinate our future moves on this issue and its consideration in the UN,” Lavrov was quoted by Russia Today as saying.

He said that Russia would support Serbia’s appeal in the UN General Assembly, requesting the stance of the international court over current events in Kosovo. Lavrov said that attempts to hamper that process would prove only that those who were doing so were acting using unlawful methods.

RIA Novosti reported that Lavrov said that a lasting solution to the Kosovo problem would be achievable only if a consensus among all the parties concerned could be reached.

Lavrov said that Moscow intended to scrap visa requirements for Serbian citizens. Belgrade will follow suit. “Today, we have discussed prospects for an agreement on a visa-free regime,” Lavrov said.

Serbian news agencies Beta and Tanjug quoted Jeremic as saying that that Serbia and Russia had “the strongest” bilateral relations, and greatly appreciated Russia’s “unreserved and unselfish support”. Jeremic said that he hoped that support would continue, to which Lavrov replied, “You can count on it.”

Jeremic said that Serbia was not against the presence of an EU civilian mission in Kosovo if this was approved by the UN Security Council. Thus far, Serbia has insisted that UNMIK, the civilian administration set up by the UN in 1999 after the wars in the former Yugoslavia, was the only legitimate body to deal with in Kosovo. Serbia has rejected EULEX, the deployment of EU civilian and police officers envisaged by the Ahtisaari plan.

Serbia did not intend changing its position on Kosovo, Jeremic said. “Serbia will not accept any decision violating its sovereignty, nor will it accept a decision that does not respect UN Security Council Resolution 1244 or a decision that is not based on negotiations and compromise,” he said.