Russia issues Kosovo warning

Russia warned Kosovo’s leaders that if they declare independence the territory will never become a member of the United Nations or other international political institutions.

Britain and the US however reaffirmed their support for Kosovo’s drive for independence from Serbia, a close ally of Russia.

The future status of Kosovo, a province of Serbia which has been run by the UN and Nato since 1999, was not on the Security Council’s official agenda yesterday.

The council was supposed to discuss a report on the UN Mission in Kosovo, but instead the two sides replayed their debate last month on independence vs autonomy for the Serb province, and neither side altered its position.