U.S. President George W. Bush authorized March 19 arms supplies to Kosovo, saying it would "strengthen the security of the United States and promote world peace."
"We think this is a mistake, which results from disrespect for international law," Vitaly Churkin said urging only weapons to be supplied for peacekeeping purposes.
Security Council Resolution 1244 prohibits weapon supplies to the region, except to UN peacekeeping forces.
Churkin also called the U.S. decision "a political provocation in a delicate situation."
Another Russian official, Russia's NATO envoy Dmitry Rogozin expressed his concern and alarm over the decision last Friday.
"The decision in reality is a means of forcing Serbs to live in an independent Kosovo."
However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was the first Russian official to condemn the U.S. decision to allow arms supplies to Kosovo. He also expressed fears that the move could further endanger stability in the region.
Kosovo, with a 90% ethnic Albanian majority, declared unilateral independence from Serbia on February 17. The U.S. and the vast majority of EU states have since acknowledged its sovereignty. Russia, Serbia's traditional ally, has refused to recognize the "world's newest state" and has pledged to block any attempt by Kosovo to seek UN membership.
Last week, violence broke out in the north of Kosovo as rioters attacked UN peacekeepers following the arrests of ethnic Serbs who had seized a UN court building in protest against the province's secession. A Ukrainian peacekeeper was killed and scores of people, both Serbs and UN personnel, were injured.
