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Russia believes UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon exceeded his authority in bypassing the UN Security Council and calling for a reconfiguration of the UN mission in Kosovo, Russia’s envoy said on Friday.

The parliament set up by the Serbian community in Kosovo is a logical response to Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

The EU believes Russia’s stance on Kosovo is not constructive enough, the head of the EU delegation to Moscow said on Thursday.

The first phase to build a security force for Kosovo, which unilaterally proclaimed independence on February 17, will be completed by 2009, a NATO spokesman said Wednesday.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday the UN chief’s proposals to gradually hand over the United Nations’ powers in Kosovo to local authorities and a European police mission were outside his jurisdiction.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer will arrive in Kosovo on June 21, a North Atlantic alliance spokesman said on Friday.

Kosovo’s new constitution is in violation of a UN Security Council Resolution, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s new constitution that went into force on Sunday as its adoption will have negative consequences, Serbian President Boris Tadic said.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Thursday saying the country will seek the dismissal of the United Nations’ chief representative in Kosovo over his plans to end the UN mission in the province.

The United States and the European Union will assist in Kosovo’s economic development and establishing rule of law, the sides said in a joint statement released on Tuesday.

Serbia’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday it had sent a note of protest to the Czech government over its recognition of Kosovo and is recalling its ambassador for consultations.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that any transfer of the UN Kosovo mission’s authority to the European Union would contravene international law.

Russia should give Serbia legal support with its plans to appeal to an international court Kosovo’s declaration of independence, a senior Russian MP said Thursday.

Efforts by the European Union to take over policing in Kosovo from the United Nations in June are only fanning tensions in the region, a deputy Russian foreign minister said on Thursday.

The Red Cross has started distributing Russian humanitarian aid to Serbs in Gracanica, some five kilometers from Kosovo’s capital Pristina.

Serbia intends to include Kosovo, which it still considers part of its territory, in the country’s early parliamentary election, a Russian senator cited Belgrade’s Election Commission as saying.