Russian Foreign Minister Mr Igor Ivanov today reaffirmed Moscow's support of a unified Yugoslavia following Montenegro's parliamentary election in which pro-independence forces scored a marginal win.
"The election results showed that supporters of independence could not secure a significant victory, which they had relied on. Now it will be very difficult for them to win independence through legal, constitutional means," Ivanov said in a statement.
"It is very important that the election results do not splinter society into two irreconcilable camps," said Ivanov, adding Moscow supported Montenegro's presence inside a "democratic Yugoslavia."
International pressure was mounting today on Montenegrin President Mr Milo Djukanovic to drop plans to secede from Yugoslavia after his "Victory Belongs to Montenegro" coalition won at Sunday's polls by less than two percentage points.
Montenegro and its much larger neighbor Serbia are the only remaining republics within Yugoslavia.
Russia, which was one of the last countries to recognize Slobodan Milosevic's September election defeat by then opposition leader President Vojislav Kostunica, was a staunch ally of Yugoslavia during NATO's 1999 bombing campaign.
AFP