NATO special envoy Pieter Feith resumed efforts today to reach a ceasefire between ethnic Albanian guerrillas and Serbian officials in Serbia's Presevo Valley bordering Kosovo.
Mr Feith arrived in the town of Bujanovac and went into talks with the Serbian delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic. He was due to meet the Albanians later.
"We are hopeful", Mr Feith told Reuters, adding that the deal might be reached soon but declining to givedetails.
"It is very sensitive, there are lots of developments that run more or less parallel. We haveto get it right but I would like to ask you to be a little patient for another 24 hours and see if we can get results", he said.
Milan Kerkovic, spokesman at a government-run press centre in Bujanovac, said it was a completely quiet night.
Yesterday, ethnic Albanian guerrillas rejected the proposed deal while fighting flared up again in the volatile region.