TIRANA, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Serbia said on Friday that it is time to send back a number of Serbian troops to Kosovo, another move following a series of tough talks by Serbian officials on the Kosovo issue.

    "We believe the time is right for this," Aleksandar Simic, adviser to Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, told reporters.

    He said that the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 stipulates that Serbia might redeploy "hundreds, not thousands of Serbian troops" in Kosovo, which has never materialized, news reaching here from Belgrade reported..

    Serbia withdrew its troops from its southern breakaway province of Kosovo in June 1999 after 78 days of NATO bombing to stop Serbian forces from attacking Kosovo Albanian separatists.

    The province, where 90 percent of its 2 million population are ethnic Albanians, has been run by the United Nations and NATO ever since. Serbian officials have been talking tough over the Kosovo issue before new round of talks over the province final status begins in Vienna at the end of this month.

    Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica reportedly threatened to cut ties with any country who recognizes the independence of Kosovo, which Serbia claims is an inalienable part of Serbia.

    On Wednesday, Serbia's minister for Kosovo Slobodan Samardzic accused NATO and the United States of trying to create a barrack-style satellite state out of Kosovo.