Ukraine's Ambassador in Belgrade Oleksandr Aleksandrovych says Serbia's vote against a UN resolution on Crimea "could return like a boomerang."

"There's an English expression - 'to shoot yourself in the foot'. I believe that is exactly what Serbia has done with such a vote, because at some point in the future, such a decision may come back like a boomerang in your efforts to keep Kosovo. I don't understand why you are doing this," Aleksandrovych has told the Belgrade-based newspaper Blic.

He said that he "tried to get an explanation from the government of Serbia about why Serbia voted against the resolution, but did not succeed."

Serbia was among the countries that earlier this week voted against a draft tabled at the UN General Assembly by Kiev, that was eventually adopted, calling for "international monitoring of the situation regarding human rights in Crimea."

The Ukrainian ambassador now says said that Serbia's move "will not affect relations between the two nations," but that he was "very sorry that the Serbian government decided to vote against Ukraine."

"We have never stopped supporting Serbia when it comes to Kosovo, nor did we recognize its independence. We almost refused to play football and basketball with Kosovo in our territory because we do not want Kosovo passports. We're not doing anything against the interests of Serbia and frankly, we are very upset about this," said Aleksandrovych.

He added that he was "certain" that Serbia has changed its position of neutrality and restraint during the voting in the UN "because of pressure from Russia."

"Let us remember the interview that Vladimir Putin gave to Bloomberg, when he openly said that Kremlin is ready to stop supporting Serbia on the Kosovo issue if, in return, the West recognized that Crimea is Russian. Maybe he directly threatened with the recognition of an independent Kosovo, I really do not know. From the standpoint of international law, Kosovo is Serb, Crimea is Ukraine," the daily quoted the ambassador as saying.

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