UN:Washington and European countries have decided not to call a UN Security Council vote on Kosovo's future status and instead will initiate talks between Belgrade and Pristina, Britain and the US said yesterday.
At issue is a European-American-sponsored draft resolution that Moscow says will lead to Kosovo's independence from Serbia, which it opposes without Belgrade's consent.
In view of Russian opposition, Britain's UN ambassador, Emyr Jones Parry, said before council consultations that "there is not much point putting the resolution forward" unless Russia changed its mind at the last minute. Asked why they would not force Russia to use its veto power, Mr Jones Parry said: "We don't want high drama which might have a consequence in the region. We have got to be responsible."
US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the sponsors would issue a statement later but the idea was to have the contact group of Balkan advisers conduct 120 days of negotiations outside of the security council because that "process has been blocked" in the council. The group is composed of Britain, France, Italy, Germany, the US and Russia but no country has veto rights.
"We hope that during the course of those negotiations, the parties will come to an agreement," Mr Khalilzad said. But no one has said what would happen after the 120 days. UN-conducted negotiations between the two sides have not resulted in a deal.
Kosovo, where 90 per cent of the people are ethnic Albanians, has been run by the UN since 1999, when Nato bombs forced out Serbian troops who were killing and expelling Albanians.
Under the draft resolution, Kosovan and Serbian leaders would resume negotiations for 120 days. After the talks, the UN would hand over the administration of the province to the EU, removing the issue from Russia's influence. Nato troops would stay on.
Another way ahead was for Pristina to declare independence, ask the UN to leave and invite the Europeans into the province. But a unilateral declaration could lose European support.
In Pristina, Kosovo prime minister Agim Ceku called on parliament yesterday to declare unilateral independence from Serbia on November 28th because of the stalemate. - ( Reuters)