Russia will not use force in Kosovo though the situation in the region will continue to escalate following the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo authorities, Russia's permanent representative to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said on Sunday.

"We are not going to a spot distant from our borders with any military or force actions. There is no direct threat on Russia. There is no threat to our national interests there," Rogozin said on the air of the Vesti-24 TV channel.

"We should understand that since our 'allies' have turned the world upside down, we should assume this: there are no more rules that can prevent threats to our security," Rogozin was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

Only one forecast can be made as to the further development of the situation in Kosovo and Serbia: there will be "chaos instead of order," he said.

"This is the first. Secondly, the international law, the UN, the system of international relations, the rules of respectable military behavior of states will not have authority any more. There will be only one rule from now on: the one who has psychical and brutal force, will be strong and will be right," Rogozin said.

Kosovo, the breakaway province of Serbia, has been under the UN administration since 1999.

The ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia on February 17. Belgrade has said the proclamation is null and void.

(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2008)