He was referring to the latest draft UN resolution unveiled this week by European and American diplomats which suggests 120 days of extra talks between Serbs and Kosovo Albanians, without an explicit call for the independence of Kosovo in case they fail to agree.

"Behind diplomatic rhetoric, there is the conclusion that after the talks... the Ahtisaari plan comes into effect," Mr Lavrov commented.

He added that he considers the time limit for further negotiations as "too little".

Moscow is concerned that the proposed shift from the UN mission to the EU-led structures would weaken its control over the dossier and could result in the de facto independence of the south Serbian province through the back door.

But EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn on Wednesday (11 July) called on Russia to accept that the EU has a key role to play in the region.

"Kosovo is a deeply European issue and Serbia must become an EU part. Neither Russia nor the USA is so directly touched with events in the Balkans like Europeans. Only Europe will have to pay for failure of the process," Mr Rehn told MEPs in Strasbourg.

"Dragging out the process of determining the status of Kosovo leads us to nowhere. It only increases the risk of instability in Kosovo, continues Serbia's agony and slows down region's movement towards the European Union, he added.

French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner echoed his message while visiting Belgrade on Thursday, warning Serbia that its EU ambitions depend on the peaceful resolution of the contentious Kosovo issue.

"It is not possible to enter the EU with an ethnic conflict," said Mr Kouchner.