West surrenders to Kosovo blackmail -Russia formin

MOSCOW, Aug 15 (Reuters) Western states are letting Kosovo use the threat of chaos to blackmail them into giving the Serbian province independence, Russia's foreign minister wrote in an article published today.

Western diplomats have warned of growing tension in the Serbian province, where ethnic Albanians are a majority, if it is not granted independence. Moscow has backed its ally Serbia by opposing independence for Kosovo.

''In the case of Kosovo, our partners are inclined to give in to blackmail with (the threat of) violence and anarchy,'' Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov wrote in an article posted on the ministry's Internet site www.mid.ru.

The 4,000 word article also accused the West of pursuing a mistaken policy of containing Russia, and said a better approach would be to engage with Moscow.

REUTERS SLD BST1855