BELGRADE, August 19. /TASS/. Moscow is doing everything possible to prevent Pristina from implementing plans for ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and Metohija, Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko said at the National Assembly (unicameral parliament) of Serbia.

"We are doing everything to prevent Pristina from implementing its plans for ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. Supporting Serbia in the international arena is one of the most important directions of our foreign policy," the ambassador said at the opening of a conference titled "The Suffering of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and International Law." The audience applauded his remarks.

UN Security Council Resolution 1244, adopted on June 10, 1999, affirms that the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija is part of Serbia. The document also authorized an international civilian and military presence in the province. Kosovo authorities unilaterally declared independence in February 2008. More than 60 countries, including Russia, India and China, as well as five European Union member states, do not recognize Kosovo.

In recent years, Kosovo authorities have closed Serbian state institutions in the northern, Serb-majority part of the province. Police forces controlled by Pristina have also detained local Serbs on various pretexts. Earlier, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that Serbia could not afford an armed conflict with NATO over Pristina's persecution of Kosovo Serbs, but would consider rerouting the Ibar River in response to their oppression.