The West is stoking tensions in the Balkans despite Russia's pacific stance, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying Monday ahead of a visit to Serbia.

Lavrov criticised the West for making Balkan states choose "either you are with the West or with Russia," in an interview with Serbia's Beta news agency.

He said the EU tried to get every aspiring member "to harmonise its foreign and defence policies" with that of the bloc, adding that this was "increasing tensions in Europe."

Serbia is seeking European Union membership. Moscow supports Belgrade in not recognising the independence of the former Serbian province of Kosovo, proclaimed a decade ago.

"It is senseless to talk now about Kosovo's place in the United Nations," Lavrov said.

He said that Resolution 1244, adopted in 1999 by the UN Security Council to end the conflict between Serbian forces and Kosovo Albanian pro-independence guerillas, "remains in place and recognises the autonomous province Kosovo as a part of Serbia."

The normalisation of ties with Kosovo and harmonisation of its diplomacy with that of the EU are among key criteria Serbia has to meet to join the bloc.

"Throughout the history of the Balkans, Russia has always tried to avoid confrontation and helped the people of this region to defend their interests... and their spiritual, religious and cultural roots."

Lavrov criticised the "politics of encircling Russia with the military infrastructure" of NATO and said one "should not strengthen one's own security at the expense of the security of others."

"NATO enlargement is a mistake," Lavrov said.

Montenegro joined NATO in 2017, while Macedonia is a candidate.

"No action currently undertaken by NATO increases anyone's security," Lavrov said.

The minister, due to arrive for a two-day visit to Serbia Wednesday, also defended the role played by the pro-Russian media in the Balkans.

"To protect the pluralism of opinion that the West constantly advocates, to have a different point of view can only be beneficial to listeners, viewers and social network users," he told Beta.

Marines drink cobra blood in US-Thai war drills
Chon Buri, Thailand (AFP) Feb 19, 2018 - US and Thai marines slurped snake blood and ate scorpions in a jungle survival programme on Monday as part of the two nations' annual Cobra Gold war games.

Now in its 37th year, Cobra Gold is one of the largest military exercises in Asia, bringing thousands of troops from the United States, Thailand and other countries for 10 days of field training on Thai shores.

On Monday, several dozen US and Thai marines took park in an annual jungle survival drill on a Thai navy base in Chonburi province, where troops took turns drinking blood from a severed cobra before grilling and eating the snakes.

Thai military trainers also taught the group -- which included South Korean troops -- how to remove venom from scorpions and tarantulas before eating them, find water in jungle vines and identity edible plants.

"The key to survival is knowing what to eat," said Thai Sergeant Major Chaiwat Ladsin, who led the drill that also saw the marines take bites of a raw gecko.

"Definitely my first time drinking snake blood... It's not something we do too often in America," US Sergeant Christopher Fiffie told AFP after the training.

"I think I'll be able to hold my own out there," he added. "The biggest take was how exactly they get their water as well as the vegetation that you can eat."

This year's Cobra Gold exercise drew some 6,800 US personnel to the war games -- nearly double last year's attendance, in the latest sign of warming relations between the two allies.

A 2014 army coup in Thailand tested ties with Washington, which urged a return to democracy and scaled back military aid.

But the two countries have upped their engagement under US President Donald Trump, who has taken a softer stance on human rights issues and even embraced Thai junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha in the White House.

The US is also keen to flex its military muscle in Asia amid tensions with North Korea over the pariah state's nuclear missile programme.

"The (attendance) numbers are reflective of the US commitment in the region," US embassy spokesman Stephane Castonguay told AFP at the start of the exercise.

"The focus of this exercise still remains humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, in addition to community relations projects."

Troops from Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Singapore also participated in this year's drills.

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Allies have 'much work' to share burden with US: NATO chief
Brussels (AFP) Feb 14, 2018
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that European allies had "much work" ahead to share the defence burden with Washington and also warned the EU to ensure its new defence pact avoids duplicating alliance work. Despite the differences, Stoltenberg said US Defense Secretary James Mattis and his fellow NATO ministers agreed to modernise its command structure in the face of a more assertive Russia and perceived threats from the Middle East. "We had a productive and forward-looking discussion ... read more