Russia rejects draft Kosovo resolution

Russia rejects draft Kosovo resolution

"This in my mind is not good enough, because such kind of formula is not going to provide sufficient incentive for the two parties to negotiate seriously," Churkin said.

The declaration came on top of 13 months of negotiations that ended in March with no compromise whatever on the central issue - Serbia's total opposition to the Albanians' bottom-line demand of independence.

Reuters reports that the rejection of the latest draft increased pressure on Kosovo's main supporters, the United States and the EU, to consider backing a unilateral declaration of independence or risk potentially serious unrest among Kosovo's two million Albanians.

The United States and the EU member countries Wednesday agreed on an amended draft resolution on Kosovo.

The third draft envisaged the postponement of supervised independence by another 120 days, during which time the Serbian and Albanian negotiators should reach an agreement on the final status of the southern province, Beta reported from New York.

Under the draft resolution, which was handed out in the UN headquarters, 120 days after the resolution becomes effective, the EU would take control of the province and supervise the transition of Kosovo towards independence.

The text further envisaged that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon right away contacts all the parties so that the talks on the final status of Kosovo can continue over the 120 days from the adoption of the resolution.

The draft document calls on all sides to "refrain from issuing any declarations that would refer to the final status of Kosovo," which especially refers to the Albanian side, because of announcements that Kosovo could unilaterally declare independence, the AP reported.

In that period, NATO forces would remain in Kosovo to assist in preserving peace, while international civilian representatives would supervise the transition towards independence.

According to the draft resolution, the Security Council assessments of the course of the talks would "be based on reports by the Secretary-General or his envoy."

The U.S. and the EU have stressed that the future status of Kosovo must be resolved and added that the "status quo is untenable in Kosovo."

"Third draft to wait as well"

Earlier Thursday, Serbian UN Ambassador Pavle Jevremović said he did not believe that the new Kosovo resolution will be voted on any time soon.

Jevremović told B92 that the new draft includes the report of the UN Security Council mission that recently visited Kosovo.

“What is new is the opening of a debate regarding status, with a given deadline. If the discussions do not result in noticeable progress, then Ahtisaari’s proposals will be taken into consideration. There are also suggestions to propose a new negotiator, but for us this resolution is not acceptable,” Jevremović said.

He added that an expert meeting of UN Security Council member country officials was called for Friday, at which a compromise is expected to be reached so that the draft can be submitted for a vote.

“Personally, I think that the Bush-Putin meeting will be the deciding factor, because that [submitting the draft] would be a big provocation before a such a meeting where Kosovo will not be the only topic, so right now it is hard to say when the UN Security Council might vote on this resolution,” Jevremović said.

Russia opposes artificial deadlines

Russia opposes artificial timeframes for settling Kosovo's status, a deputy Russian foreign minister said Thursday at a meeting with Serbian Ambassador to Moscow Stanimir Vukićević.

Vladimir Titov told the ambassador that Moscow is committed to negotiating a solution with international mediation and under UN Security Council Resolution 1244, an eight-year-old document calling for a compromise between Belgrade and the province, "without artificial timeframes and automatism in terms of implementing 'postponed' decisions on Kosovo's independence," the ministry said in a statement.

At the diplomats' meeting in Moscow, Titov received copies of credentials from Vukićević, the first Serbian ambassador to Moscow since Montenegro withdrew from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

The two parties also discussed other developments in the Balkan region.