BELGRADE, Serbia 

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that he is willing to meet with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to defuse tensions in Kosovo.

Stoltenberg made the remarks during a press conference before the start of the two-day NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania's capital.

"I am in regular contact with President Aleksandar Vucic. I am ready to meet. We are concerned about the increased tensions in Kosovo. We urge parties to de-escalate and refrain from taking any action that could further increase tensions in the region," Stoltenberg said.

Leaders of the 31-member military alliance are meeting to discuss the Ukraine war, Sweden's NATO membership, and steps to strengthen the bloc’s defense and deterrence.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said last week at a press conference that he will request an urgent meeting with Stoltenberg and will urge the UN Security Council to discuss the situation in Kosovo.

He wants to inform Stoltenberg about what Serbia can do to de-escalate tensions, Vucic added.

Following the April elections in northern Kosovo, the EU said the low turnout among Serbs did not provide municipalities with long-term political solutions.

Ethnic Serbs have been protesting the election of Albanian mayors since late May.

On May 30, NATO decided to send 700 more troops to the Kosovo Force (KFOR), the alliance-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, after 30 of its soldiers were injured during the unrest. A contingent of Turkish troops was among the reinforcements.

Kosovo and Serbia must reach a final agreement and resolve their disputes to move forward with their integration into the EU.

When Pristina declared its independence 15 years ago, most UN member states, including the US, UK, France, Germany, and Türkiye, recognized it as a separate country from Serbia, but Belgrade continues to regard it as its territory.