Moscow accused the Kosovo government on Monday as responsible “for the blood that was shed” on Sunday, in riots near the border with Serbia, while warning that there was a risk of “the entire Balkan region in a dangerous abyss”.

“There is no doubt that the blood shed yesterday is a direct consequence of the political incitement of the conflict tof self-proclaimed Prime Minister Albin Kurti” the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Any attempt to worsen the situation could lead “the entire Balkan region to a dangerous precipice,” the statement added.

According to Moscow, Kosovo police have been doing this “for a long time” in “systematic punitive actions against the Serbian community”.

“The heavily armed special forces that have encircled the non-Albanian zones are the main instrument pushing the Serbs out of Kosovo,” claims Moscow. Also referring to the embargo of products by Serbia, Russia claims that “the communities of the north (Kosovo) are for months on the brink of humanitarian disaster”.

“There is imminent danger to resume ethnic cleansing implemented by the Kosovo Albanian extremists,” the ministry warns.

The death of a Kosovar policeman who was killed on Sunday in an ambush, and the exchange of fire with heavily armed men, who had taken refuge in a monastery, constitutes one of the most serious incidents of recent years in this region. Four of the gunmen were killed and six others are being treated in a hospital in Serbia, according to Pristina.