MOSCOW, July 13 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian foreign minister dismissed remarks by a UN envoy Friday as inappropriate suggesting Russia's role at the UN Security Council should be reduced over its hard line against Western states' Kosovo plan.
Asked to comment on Martti Ahtisaari's statement on a reduced role for Russia over its consistent opposition to UN draft resolutions giving Serbia's ethnic-Albanian province sovereignty, Sergei Lavrov said: "I have not heard this statement, but if it was made, I consider it inappropriate."
The Associated Press quoted Ahtisaari as saying in an interview with a Finnish newspaper Thursday: "Now it [Russia] could cause the UN real problems unless the Security Council is able to come to a clear conclusion. In that case, the situation would become very difficult to handle in all respects."
Russia rejected Thursday the latest, third, draft UN resolution on Kosovo, proposed by the United States, France and Britain, which would not automatically grant the Balkan province independence after 120 days of multilateral negotiations, as stipulated in the previous draft.
"The problem of Kosovo's independence has not been removed from the agenda. The diplomatic rhetoric suggests that the Ahtisaari plan will come into effect after the negotiations," Lavrov said.
The previous draft was based on Ahtisaari's plan to give Kosovo independence without the prior consent of Serbia. Russia, a veto-wielding Security Council member and a longtime ally of Serbia, has insisted on a decision that would satisfy both Belgrade and Pristina.
