According to Moscow, the warning was made between a phone call that was made by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Recently, United States President George W. Bush said that he recognizes Kosovo’s independence. As a result, Serbia had recalled its ambassador from Washington DC.
NATO had to close off Kosovo’s northern borders due to attacks by angered Serbs against the move towards independence. Serbia had said that Kosovo’s move is a violation of international law. Currently, the United Nations and the European Union are split in terms of Kosovo’s independence.
Russia and China support Serbia’s President Boris Tadic.
However, Kosovo’s independence has been recognized by Great Britain, France, Germany, and Italy. However, other members such as Spain and Greece have decided not to recognize Kosovo’s independence.
“We confirmed our principled position on the unacceptability of unilateral actions by Pristina declaring its independence,” said the Russian foreign ministry.
“We underlined the dangerous consequences of such a step, which threatens the destruction of world order and international stability which have developed over decades,” the statement had added.
The states that withheld recognition do it because of their concerns with separatist movements. In Spain, there are the Basque separatists. Cyprus is concerned due to Turkish separatists. Russia has its own concerns in Georgia’s breakaway states.