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Serbia consent key to Kosovo future, says Russia
09 Jul 2007 08:25:57 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Olga Dzyubenko

BISHKEK, July 9 (Reuters) - Moscow will not back any U.N. plan for Kosovo unless both Serbia and its breakaway province support it, Russia's foreign minister said on Monday, pouring cold water on a fresh attempt to find compromise with the West.

Russia has blocked the adoption of a Western-backed U.N. resolution that would effectively set Kosovo on the path to independence if talks between Belgrade and Pristina fail. Serbia rejects Kosovo's independence outright.

But diplomats from several countries in New York have said Western capitals are discussing a possible new draft that would appeal more to Moscow, possibly by extending a 120-day deadline for talks.

In the first comment by Russia since news of a possible compromise emerged, Lavrov said: "Our position is well known and it is dictated by life, rather than by any artificial schemes."

"Any decision on Kosovo is possible only on the basis of an agreement by both parties involved," Lavrov told a news conference in the Kyrgyz capital where he attended a regional ministerial meeting. "No other decision will go through the U.N. Security Council."

Russia, a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, resists Western calls to break a deadlock in Kosovo's status eight years after NATO wrested control of the province from Serbia.

Kosovo's 2 million Albanians -- 90 percent of the population -- are growing increasingly impatient after the West promised them a decision by mid-year.

Kosovo's leaders have threatened to declare independence unilaterally, a step that could shatter the unity of the European Union on a major problem in the Balkans and send shockwaves across the region.

Russia says granting independence to Kosovo despite Serbia's objections would create a dangerous precedent for other parts of Europe where separatist sentiments are strong.

Russia is involved in tricky disputes over Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and Moldova's Transdniestria.

Russia has extensive economic and political influence in the three separatist provinces, but has so far resisted repeated calls by their leaders to recognise their independence.
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