Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Sputnik portal (Serbian language) that the problem of Kosovo, instead of imposing an ultimatum, can be solved only by bringing positions closer and by consensus.

On Sputnik's question about the idea of dual sovereignty in Kosovo, reported by some media in Pristina, Lavrov replied that the West, when it recognized the illegally declared independence of Kosovo, did not mention dual sovereignty.

"But I repeat, it is on our Serbian friends to make a decision. Regarding the pressure on Serbia and the demand to recognize Kosovo's independence, this pressure will continue. First, the US and the current administration are busy trying to achieve as much possible of success in foreign policy for the shortest time until the next election," he said.

"This requires far more time, than to set up ultimatums and ask to accept them immediately, but this is the only way to a stable solution to the problem. Unfortunately, our Western colleagues in principle consider they are deciding on the fate of the world, and the colonial aspects of the mentality have begun to manifest. They talk about exceptionalism and the fact that precisely the western group of countries have the right to determine who is right and who is to blame. Less and less they talk about international law, and more about the rules they invented, and which must be accepted by all other countries, bypassing the UN Security Council and ignoring the UN itself," says the head of Russian diplomacy.

Lavrov also assesses that there are active and impulsive moves on Kosovo, Afghanistan, and the Korean peninsula, as well as in other directions.

"We understand the desire of the administration in Washington to achieve foreign policy success in order to present them to their voters, but the emphasis should not be the own electoral cycle, but the interests of a stable, long-term and lasting solution," Lavrov says for Sputnik.