Serbia and Russia urged the UN Security Council to oppose Kosovo's planned unilateral declaration of independence, slamming the move as a violation of international law.

"The Republic of Serbia shall never accept any violation of its territorial integrity," Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told a meeting of the 15-member body held Thursday, CNN reported.

"We shall undertake all diplomatic, political and economic measures designed to impede and reverse this direct and unprovoked attack on our sovereignty," Jeremic added.

Russian UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin also slammed Kosovo's independence as "a blatant breach of international law" and voiced concern about the risk of renewed interethnic violence in the province and the Balkans as a whole.

In his final news conference as Russian president Thursday, Vladimir Putin accused Europe of having double standards, pointing to other regions such as the Basque region on the Spanish-French border where the EU does not support independence.

"You've been always telling us Kosovo is allegedly a special case. That's not true, that's a lie," Putin said.

A unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo's Albanian majority is expected on Sunday or Monday, just before a key meeting of European Union foreign ministers.

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