Russia supports Kosovo's Serbian population and believes their legal rights and interests must be protected, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

Peskov also told a regular news briefing that Moscow was following closely the unrest in Kosovo, which has increased sharply since ethnic Albanian mayors took office in the country's northern Serb-majority area after votes last month.

(Reporting by Reuters Writing by Gareth Jones; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)