BELGRADE, Serbia

NATO allies expressed a desire Tuesday to have better relations with Serbia which is to maintain military neutrality.

"Strengthening NATO-Serbia relations would be of benefit to the Alliance, to Serbia, and to the whole region. We look to Serbia to engage with NATO and its neighbours in a constructive manner, including in its public communications on the mutual benefits of NATO-Serbia cooperation," according to a statement after the first day of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

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

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.

Vucic said last week 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, he added.

Following 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 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.