Russian president, Mr Vladimir Putin, yesterday called for the signing of an agreement reaffirming current borders in the Balkans and blamed ethnic Albanians "terrorists" for most of the region's instability.
Mr Putin was talking to Russian commanders of the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo during an unscheduled stopover in his two-day visit to Yugoslavia. His flight from Belgrade was announced at the last minute because of security concerns in the province, where the majority ethnic Albanians view Russia as pro-Serb because of historic ties between the two.
He was greeted by a Russian military honour guard at Pristina airport, where the 3,000-strong Russian contingent to the NATO-led force is based.
Mr Putin emphasised the need for UN-administered Kosovo to remain part of Yugoslavia, despite ethnic Albanian wishes for independence.
Before departing, Mr Putin said he wanted to see how the Russian contingent was functioning within the Nato-led force. "We came here to see what kind of co-operation exists, what kinds of problems exist here and how to address and resolve those problems," he said.
Mr Putin referred to his recent summit with US president, Mr George Bush, saying that they had discussed the crisis and pledged to do "everything possible to achieve a fair solution" for the region.
"The stability of the region is seriously endangered by national and religious intolerance and extremism," Mr Putin said, referring to ethnic Albanian extremists. "We must do all to disarm the terrorists," he added.
The guarantor of the agreement would be the UN Security Council, sources close to the Russian delegation said.