RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – Feb. 22, 2008
TODAY: Russia’s envoy lashes out at West over Kosovo, protests shall proceed despite ban, Tymoshenko talks gas with Putin, and the world reacts to the U.S. shooting down a satellite. After Serbian nationalists set fire to the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade, Russia has reacted to the street violence. Ambassador to NATO Dmitri Rogozin told ITAR-TASS: “If the EU works out a single position or if NATO steps beyond its mandate in Kosovo, these organizations will be in conflict with the U.N., and then I think we will also begin operating under the assumption that in order to be respected, one needs to use force. And we, I think, will proceed from an assumption that to be respected, we have to use brute military force.” A rep from the Foreign Ministry explained the street violence in Serbia as such: “What happened in Belgrade yesterday is regrettable. But we would want to draw your attention to the fact that the forces that supported the unilateral recognition of Kosovo’s independence should have realized the effects of the move.”