'Russia May Have To Rely On Brute Military Force To Earn Respect'

AP

Moscow's envoy to NATO warned Friday that Russia may have to rely on "brute military force" to earn respect on the world scene if all EU nations recognize Kosovo's independence and NATO oversteps its authority in Kosovo.

However, Dmitry Rogozin said Russia was not going to get involved in any armed confrontation over Kosovo.

He said some Western countries were ruining the entire system of international law by recognizing Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia.

"If the European Union works out a single position and NATO goes beyond its current mandate in Kosovo, these organizations will conflict with the United Nations," he said in a televised hookup from Brussels.

"And we, I think, will proceed from an assumption that to be respected, we have to use brute military force," Rogozin said.