Supporters of Crvena Zvezda soccer team of Serbia display a banner which reads "Kosovo is Serbia" during their UEFA Cup, Group F, soccer match against Bolton Wanderers of England, December 6, 2007, in Belgrade.
Photo: AP, AP
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Russia Sees No End to Kosovo Negotiations
Informal consultations on Kosovo are to begin today in New York among members of the UN Security Council. Russia considers it the start of a new phase of negotiations on the status of the territory, while the United States and its allies say that it is the end of the negotiation process and the preparations for the acknowledgment of Kosovar independence.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon received a report from the troika of intermediaries, The U.S., EU and Russia, last week and quickly forwarded it to the Security Council before leaving for the global climate change conference in Bali. The report states that the conflicting sides have not reached an agreement on the status of Kosovo but have agreed not to undertake any actions that would endanger the security of the region.
The only public commentary made on the report before the Security Council discussion of it came from Russian UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who said that “One hundred twenty days [the time devoted to the UN negotiations] is not so much time and it is amazing that the troika was able to achieve just impressive results. We consider it a very good start to negotiations.” He noted that the Serbs agreed to allow Kosovo its own flag, coat-of-arms, relations with international financial institutions and international sports teams. “The only thing the Serbs are not prepared to accept is Kosovo's membership in international political organizations like the UN, OSCE and certain others,” Churkin said. “The irony of the situation is that, if Kosovo declares independence unilaterally, it won't receive that in any case.” He went on to recall that the territory's electricity supply is fully dependent on Serbia.
The Albanians won the recent elections in Kosovo, and former field commander Hashim Thaci is preparing to become its prime minister. The December 10 deadline on negotiations has been adopted by the Albanians their time to separate from Serbia, with U.S. support. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized U.S. determination to see an independent Kosovo after returning from negotiations with NATO in Brussels.
A draft statement is likely to be discussed in the Security Council today for introduction in the Council on December 19. Consideration of a new resolution is unrealistic, since the positions of Belgrade and Prishtine (and thus Russia and the U.S.) are too far apart.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 10, 2007
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