Bosnian Serb political leader Milorad Dodik said Friday he would plead with Russian President Vladimir Putin to keep the European peacekeeping force in Bosnia, to prevent it being replaced by a NATO one.

The mandate of the European Union's military mission in Bosnia -- whose mission is to ensure peace in Bosnia after the 1990s war -- is renewed annually by the UN Security Council, and expires on November 3.

Several Bosnian media recently reported that NATO would deploy its own troops in Bosnia if the mandate of the EU mission is not renewed by then, citing "diplomatic sources".

Dodik, who keeps friendly relations with Putin, announced that renewal of the mandate will be on the agenda of his meeting with the Russian president next Tuesday in Moscow.

"I will propose to President Putin that Russia should act in favour of extending this mission ... in order to avoid discussion on this subject, desired by some, namely on the larger presence of NATO" in Bosnia, Dodik told during his trip to Belgrade.

Officially, NATO already has headquarters in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, but with very few staff.

Bosnia, which is run by tripartite presidency, aspires to join the Western military alliance, but political leaders of the Bosnian Serbs are strongly opposed to the idea.

On the same day that Russia invaded Ukraine, the EU force in Bosnia announced the deployment of 500 additional troops to Bosnia, in addition to the 600 personnel already there.

In April, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Western countries are studying alternative solutions to ensure the presence of an international mission in Bosnia if Russia blocks renewal of a UN-backed peacekeeping mission.

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