U.S.: No Kosovo delays; Russia: Firmly with Serbia

Condoleezza Rice has today called on European countries not to delay "difficult decisions" on Kosovo. "There is a certain danger in delaying what needs to be done, and that is resolving the status of Kosovo," the U.S. secretary of state commented today. U.S.: No Kosovo delays; Russia: Firmly with Serbia Rice was on her way to Berlin for a meeting with her German, French and British counterparts. "I think it would be good to wait for the outcome of the Serbian election, but at one point we will have to make a difficult decision." "Putting off difficult decisions does not make them any easier," Beta news agency quoted Rice as telling Reuters. She stressed that a unison approach to Kosovo should be particularly emphasized, and announced that this will be the subject of her meetings in the German capital. "We are trying to see if there is anything else that can be done so that the transition goes smoothly, and so that all this goes towards the stability, rather than instability of the Balkans," Rice was cited. She is also scheduled to hold a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov while in Berlin, after which she will head to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum sessions held there. Ahead of the meeting in Germany, Lavrov also spoke about Kosovo, and said that this was one subject over which Russia will defend its position "all the way." "It needs to be understood clearly that, although the Russian policy is not that of confrontation, there are red lines for us, when real threat to our national security or the existing international legal order appears," Lavrov said in an article carried by his ministry's website. In such cases, the Russian chief of diplomacy wrote, Moscow "cannot refrain from reacting and defending its position all the way." "Such threats include unilateral plans to deploy American anti-missile defenses in Europe, attempts to impose a unilateral solution for Kosovo, violations of the UN Charter, and of the decisions made by the UN Security Council, and OSCE," Lavrov said. He also stressed Russia was "not bartering", and advised her international partners to realize this. Lavrov said that each of these questions is important in itself, and that "trading one in exchange for another is out of the question." Lavrov, Rice: Moscow and Washington drifting apart over Kosovo (FoNet, archive)

U.S.: No Kosovo delays; Russia: Firmly with Serbia

Rice was on her way to Berlin for a meeting with her German, French and British counterparts.

"I think it would be good to wait for the outcome of the Serbian election, but at one point we will have to make a difficult decision."

"Putting off difficult decisions does not make them any easier," Beta news agency quoted Rice as telling Reuters.

She stressed that a unison approach to Kosovo should be particularly emphasized, and announced that this will be the subject of her meetings in the German capital.

"We are trying to see if there is anything else that can be done so that the transition goes smoothly, and so that all this goes towards the stability, rather than instability of the Balkans," Rice was cited.

She is also scheduled to hold a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov while in Berlin, after which she will head to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum sessions held there.

Ahead of the meeting in Germany, Lavrov also spoke about Kosovo, and said that this was one subject over which Russia will defend its position "all the way."

"It needs to be understood clearly that, although the Russian policy is not that of confrontation, there are red lines for us, when real threat to our national security or the existing international legal order appears," Lavrov said in an article carried by his ministry's website.

In such cases, the Russian chief of diplomacy wrote, Moscow "cannot refrain from reacting and defending its position all the way."

"Such threats include unilateral plans to deploy American anti-missile defenses in Europe, attempts to impose a unilateral solution for Kosovo, violations of the UN Charter, and of the decisions made by the UN Security Council, and OSCE," Lavrov said.

He also stressed Russia was "not bartering", and advised her international partners to realize this.

Lavrov said that each of these questions is important in itself, and that "trading one in exchange for another is out of the question."