Moscow is not prepared to bargain over Kosovo or Washington`s plans for a missile shield in Europe and the West must understand this, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.

He said Kosovo, a Serbian province pressing for independence, and the U.S. plan to station parts of a missile shield in eastern Europe, represented for Russia "red lines" which must not be crossed.

"It should be understood that we have red lines, that is where our national security or the world order is threatened," Lavrov said in a speech to students at the Moscow State Institute of International Affairs.

"Russia is not bargaining and our partners should understand this," he said.

Lavrov did not say what precisely would be unacceptable to Russia over Kosovo or the missile shield -- or if there was scope for compromise.

Russia has strongly opposed a Western-backed proposal to set Kosovo on the path to independence from Belgrade. It says it will accept only a solution on the province`s status backed by both Serbia and Kosovo`s ethnic Albanian majority.

Washington says its missile defense shield is needed to protect against possible rocket strikes from what it calls "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.

But Russia says the shield is a threat to its own security. It has proposed an alternative scheme that would involve Moscow and Washington sharing radar data to create a collective missile defense system.
sections: Politics