SOCHI (AFP) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that a decision on the future status of Kosovo must not be imposed from the outside and should be accepted both in Belgrade and Pristina.

"Russia believes it is unacceptable that a decision on the status of Kosovo be imposed from the outside," Putin said at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the southern Russian city of Sochi.

"A long-term resolution of the problem can be achieved only if it is acceptable both to Belgrade and to Pristina," Putin said after talks with Merkel that also touched on international diplomacy in the Balkans.

Serbia voted on Sunday for a new government in polls pitting pro-Western forces against ultra-nationalists as a decision on the future of the country's breakaway province of Kosovo looms.

"Europe does not have an interest in one of the sides, let's say Belgrade, having to accept a decision that is humiliating for the Serbian people," Putin said.