Russian official: EU and U.S. may agree to Kosovo delay

Russian official: EU and U.S. may agree to Kosovo delay

The comment comes despite earlier promises to Kosovo Albanians they would have independence by June.

"If this is accepted, we would be more than happy to continue working on the language [of a UN resolution]. There are some signs that this is the case," he added, following UN talks in New York last week and a telephone call between Bush and Putin on Monday.

At the time, senior U.S. diplomat Nicholas Burns said Washington expected the deal to be adopted in late May or early June. Kosovo Albanian prime minister Agim Ceku also predicted that the region would gain independence in a matter of "weeks."

But a Russian official told EUobserver Moscow would only agree to a UN resolution that calls for further talks under international supervision between Belgrade and Priština on Kosovo's status.

It would also agree to a new resolution that calls for the full implementation of resolution 1244 on the rights of the ethnic Serb minority, with a new EU police mission and the old NATO force to stay and keep the peace until 1244 has been fulfilled.

"There is no political force in Russia, on the left or right, that would accept Kosovo independence, at least not right now," the head of the Russian parliament's foreign affairs committee, Konstantin Kosachev, said on Tuesday.

"This is not an urgent decision that we need to have at any price by a certain date."

Meanwhile, another element of uncertainty was added this week by reports in leading Croatian daily Jutarnji List on Monday that the U.S. and Russia were close to a deal that would involve Russian peacekeeping troops in Kosovo and U.S. side-promises not to expand NATO to Ukraine and Georgia.

The report cited Russian officials "close to" president Putin.

But EU, UN and Russian officials poured cold water on the information on Tuesday. "I would take it with a big pinch of salt," an EU official said. "It looks like provocation or wishful thinking," a Russian diplomat said.