MOSCOW -- Russia considers Kosovo to be a part of Serbia, the Russia Federation's Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich said in Moscow on Thursday.

He was commenting on the decision earlier this week of the International Olympic Committee to allow Kosovo to join as a member.

Serbia earlier "condemned the decision in the harshest terms."

According to Lukashevich, Russia's principled position is that Kosovo remains an integral part of Serbia, the TASS agency reported.

“We believe that Kosovo is a part of Serbia and that status is defined in the according UN Security Council’s Resolution 1244. This resolution clearly stipulates that Serbia has sovereignty over Kosovo," Lukashevich said during a briefing in Moscow, the Russian sputniknews.com website reported.

"Once again I would like to emphasize that in our deepest beliefs sports should be separate from politics,” the spokesman said.