(Recasts with comments from both sides)

By Mark John

BRUSSELS, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Serb and Kosovo Albanian officials failed to break the deadlock over the future of the breakaway Serb province on Sunday but agreed to meet again in a week for new negotiations.

Neither side budged from their original positions ahead of a Dec. 10 cut-off point for the talks, after which the Kosovo Albanians have threatened to declare independence anyway.

"The Serbian side once again presented their views of a substantial autonomy ... Of course, the Kosovo side rejected entirely the Serbian position," Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu told a news conference after four hours of talks in Brussels.

Serbian Minister for Kosovo Metohija Slobodan Samardzic told reporters: "We did not approximate our positions. We stay where we stand."

A statement released by the so-called troika of European, U.S. and Russian mediators after the Brussels meeting said the two sides would meet again in Vienna on Oct. 22 and pursue further meetings up to Dec. 10.

Kosovo Albanians are increasingly frustrated that their U.N.-administered province remains in limbo eight years after a NATO bombing campaign to halt Serb atrocities.

The West fears a unilateral declaration of independence could unleash new Balkans chaos and is already taking behind-the-scenes measures for such an eventuality.

Serbia opposes ceding independence to Kosovo, seen by many Serbs as the country's cultural heartland.

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EU mediator Wolfgang Ischinger appealed to both sides before the talks to take "painful decisions" to narrow differences.

But Serb officials said they still opposed a proposal by the Kosovo Albanians for a friendship treaty between Serbia and an independent Kosovo and accused them of playing for time.

"There is an inclination on the Albanian side to just wait on the clock," Serb Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said, adding that it was counter-productive for Dec. 10 to be viewed as a deadline an agreement.

The latest set of negotiations were launched after U.N. Security Council veto-holder Russia blocked a U.N.-sponsored plan that would have set the 90-percent ethnic Albanian province of 2 million firmly on the road to independence.

Ischinger earlier urged European states to relax visa rules for Serbian travellers, arguing the move could help unlock talks with Belgrade on the future of its breakaway province.

"It would be a good signal if we in the EU could let our friends in Serbia know that sooner rather than later the requirement for visas will be lifted for normal travellers from Serbia to EU member countries," Ischinger told reporters.

"That is also something that could be helpful in the overall context of these negotiations," he added.

The EU announced accords with Serbia and four other Balkan nations last month making it easier for students, researchers, business people and journalists to travel to the EU, but Belgrade insists visas should be scrapped altogether. (Additional reporting by Gordana Filipovic in Belgrade and David Brunnstrom and Dale Hudson in Brussels)

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