Serbia's Prime Minister Slams US' Obstruction to Deployment of Serbian Forces in Kosovo

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic has given a brusque response to the refusal of US envoy for the Balkans Gabriel Escobar to endorse the deployment of a Serbian security contingent in Kosovo under UN Security Council resolution 1244 amid regional tensions.

"I see that my friend Gabe Escobar is yet another politician who is adamantly against valid Resolutions of the UN Security Council. He took over the role of the Security Council and with unanimous vote of himself, MFA of Germany and Minister [Viola] von Cramon of Silence, also known as EP Rapporteur for Kosovo*, annulled the UNSCR 1244," Brnabic tweeted.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the European Union has been modeling the current situation in Kosovo for years. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia supports ensuring the rights of Kosovo Serbs and the peaceful settlement of the issue through diplomatic means.

On Tuesday, Escobar visited Pristina, where he held a meeting with Kurti. He told journalists that the US could not support the deployment of Serbian forces in Kosovo. The US State Department official and EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak are expected to visit Belgrade on Wednesday.

On Sunday night, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic held a national security council and accused Pristina of violating the existing agreements after Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti urged the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) to dismantle road barricades erected by local Serbs. Kurti also said that if the KFOR mission refused to step in, Kosovo's own security forces would carry out this operation themselves. Vucic, in turn, pledged to send a formal request to the KFOR command for permission to deploy the Serbian military and police in Kosovo on December 15.