First shipment of Russian aid for Kosovo Serbs arrives in Belgrade

The first shipment of Russian aid for the minority Serbs in Kosovo arrived Wednesday in Belgrade, in a demonstration of Moscow's support for Serbia in the dispute with the West over Kosovo.

"This is a big day for us," Serbia's government minister for Kosovo, Slobodan Samardzic, said as he received the aid at the Belgrade airport.

"This is huge help, it presents both material and moral support," he said.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pledged that Moscow would not allow Kosovo — which declared independence from Serbia in February with Western backing — to become member of the United Nations.

Speaking Wednesday at the Russian parliament, Lavrov expressed support for the Kosovo Serbs' rejection of Kosovo's independence declaration, saying they "have the right to decide whom to live with."

The Russian aid was shipped in an Ilyushin-76 cargo plane. It included 40 tons of canned food, baby food, rice and sugar. Samardzic said three more shipments including more food and medical aid were expected by April 10.

"This is important help for the survival of Serbs in Kosovo," he said.

No details have been given about how the aid would be distributed among the 100,000 or so Serbs living in Kosovo.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the aid at Serbia's request. He said the aid should be distributed regardless of the ethnicity and "without political coloring."

But Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders objected that Moscow should coordinate shipments with Pristina rather than Belgrade.

Kosovo's Feb. 17 declaration of independence was quickly recognition by the United States and its key European allies.

But Serbia and Russia have rejected Kosovo's statehood as illegal under international law. Belgrade has sought in the past weeks to retain control over Serb-held areas in Kosovo, a move that could lead to a de facto division of the territory.

Clashes last month between Serbs and international police and NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo left a Ukrainian policeman dead and dozens of people on both sides injured.

Serbs also say a new European Union administrative mission is illegal.

Lavrov said Russia was working to prolong the U.N. mission established in Kosovo in 1999, after a NATO air war ended a Serb crackdown against Kosovo separatists.

"We are taking concrete measures to prevent the use of force to compel the Kosovo Serbs to accept Kosovo's independence," he told lawmakers. "Making Serbs submit to recognizing the legitimacy of the European Union mission is illegitimate."

"I am concerned that the developing situation in Kosovo is not over," he warned.

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Associated Press Writer Mike Eckel in Moscow contributed to this report.