Kosovo declared unilateral independence on February 17. It was later recognized by the U.S. and other, mainly Western, countries. Russia staunchly opposes independence for Kosovo, saying it "undermines international law." Both Moscow and Belgrade have refused to recognize Kosovo's sovereignty.
Russia and Serbia signed a draft agreement on Monday to build a gas pipeline for the transit of Russian natural gas through the Balkan country.
Dmitry Medvedev, a current first deputy premier and the man widely expected to win Russia's presidential elections on March 2, is also board chairman at Russian state-controlled energy giant Gazprom, which proposed and leads the project. Medvedev said on Tuesday that taking Serbia on board was an important issue "making the project feasible, complete, fruitful and mutually beneficial."
He went on to say the issue was "particularly important as regards the situation in Serbia today" and was "essentially an element of our moral, material, and economic aid to the state."
The agreement signed in Belgrade in the presence of Medvedev and Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica is scheduled to result in a contract on February 28. On the same day another contact on the South Stream project will be signed with Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsan following talks with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
The South Stream project is planned to transport 10 billion cubic meters of Russian gas annually across the Black Sea, with the first deliveries scheduled for 2013.
South Stream was proposed by Gazprom and Italy's Eni and is a rival project to the Nabucco pipeline backed by the EU and U.S., which will pump Central Asian gas to Europe via Turkey bypassing Russia. Nabucco, which is due to go on line by 2011, will involve Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria.
Addressing Kostunica on Monday, Medvedev reaffirmed that Moscow would maintain its firm stand on the territorial integrity of Serbia.
"We believe that Serbia is a unified state, whose jurisdiction extends over its entire territory, and we will maintain this position in the future," Medvedev said.
"It is unacceptable that for the first time in the post-war history, a country [Serbia], which is a member of the United Nations, has been divided in violation of all the principles used in resolving territorial conflicts," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Russia's Vesti 24 television channel on Monday.
Protests against Kosovo's independence turned into street riots in Belgrade last week, leaving at least 130 people injured. Riots continued on Monday and Tuesday.
Protesters have so far attacked the embassies of the United States, Croatia, Belgium and Turkey, throwing stones and Molotov cocktails.
