US President’s special envoy for NATO Richard Grenell has criticized Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, accusing her of ‘manipulating’ Donald Trump’s words.

In a post on the X platform (formerly Twitter), Grenell said Osmani should be ‘ashamed’ of the way she used Trump’s words. He also shared a photo that quoted the Kosovo president as saying he had ‘credible information’ that the US president had prevented an escalation between Serbia and Kosovo.

“Donald Trump was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to promote peace and economic normalization between Kosovo and Serbia in 2019 and 2020, achieved through the signing of the Washington Agreement at the White House,” Grenell, who was then Trump’s special envoy for the Western Balkans, wrote.

He added that Osmani was not “part of this process” and that it was “absurd to suggest that there is something new.”

In response to the accusations, Osmani announced that he would give a press conference upon his return from the United States.

Osmani’s claims that Trump “recently prevented” a possible conflict between Serbia and Kosovo have also drawn criticism from Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Foreign Minister Marko Đurić.

Trump’s statements in recent weeks that he prevented a war between Kosovo and Serbia have attracted attention but also caused confusion, as it was not clear exactly what period he was referring to.

In June, the former US president said on his Truth Social platform that during his first term, Kosovo and Serbia were “on the brink of a serious conflict” that he managed to prevent.

Subsequently, at a White House press conference in late June, Trump indicated that the United States had managed to stop or prevent several potential conflicts in recent months, including between Serbia and Kosovo. On July 9, he reiterated that he had “stopped the war in the region.”

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, for his part, commented in Washington this week that she believed Trump was clearly referring to “the last few weeks,” not past events, and that he was referring to “very recent developments.” | BGNES