"Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer spoke with President Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia today. Mr. Finer stressed the United States’ concern about the tense situation in northern Kosovo and called for all parties to take steps aimed at de-escalating the situation," the release said on Friday.
"He urged the government of Serbia to withdraw its armed forces stationed near the border and to lower their state of readiness, as well as to urge protesters to remain peaceful in northern Kosovo."
Finer also told Vucic that the United States expect both sides to re-engage in the EU-facilitated dialogue and to fully implement the normalization agreement reached in Brussels and Ohrid earlier this year, the release added.
Kosovo, whose independence from Belgrade has not been recognized by Serbia and dozens of other countries, deployed police to the region, while Serbia put its armed forces on full combat alert and started moving them toward the administrative border.
NATO deployed its troops in four protesting regions in northern Kosovo and Metohija and announced it was sending additional troops to reinforce the KFOR peacekeepers there. Officers surrounded the local government buildings with rows of barbed wire in advance, with heavily equipped Kosovo Albanian police fighters with armored vehicles positioned behind them.
On Monday, thousands of Serbs protested in Zvecan and Leposavic, which escalated into clashes with security forces that left 52 Serbs and some 30 KFOR troops injured.