Putin says Kosovo policy based on law, desire for stability

ZAGREB - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that Russia's position on the future of Kosovo was based on international law and a desire to look to the future.
"Our position is not dictated by confessional considerations or by ethnic considerations or historical considerations. It is dictated by today's principles of international law and the desire to look to the future," Putin said at a meeting with his Serbian counterpart Boris Tadic.
"And the desire to create stable relations for the development of all countries," Putin added.
Russia, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, has supported Serbia by insisting that any change in the status of the Serbian province must have Belgrade's assent.
Serbia remains opposed to a UN plan to grant supervised independence to Kosovo, which is backed by the European Union and the United States.
The province has been under UN administration since mid-1999 when NATO air raids drove out Serbian forces waging a crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanian guerrillas and their civilian supporters.

06/24/2007 19:13 GMT