By Douglas Hamilton

BELGRADE, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Last-chance talks on the future of Serbia's breakaway province of Kosovo open in Vienna on Thursday, without even the glimmer of a breakthrough in sight.

Kosovo Albanians demanding independence after eight years under United Nations rule, and Serbs insisting they can never have it, are dug in too deeply on opposite sides of the issue.

"We will certainly not agree with (Kosovo's) proposal of independence," said Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic on the eve of the talks. "We have openly, clearly and unequivocally said from the beginning that it is unacceptable to us."

"Independence is a done deal," says Kosovo Albanian leader Hashim Thaci. "We're not going to Vienna to negotiate independence but to present our vision of the future."

The Serbia of late hardliner Slobodan Milosevic made Kosovo's large Albanian majority a fearful underclass. But they took up guns, provoking the indiscriminate violence he specialised in, and drew NATO in onto their side in 1999 to grasp victory.

Kosovo has been occupied ever since. Serbia says granting independence would violate international law. The Albanians say they will not be part of a country that tried to wipe them out.

The three diplomats who will attempt to breach this chasm -- from the United States, Russia and the European Union -- will start off in no man's land, shuttling between two delegations.

The two sides hardly need sparring rounds to warm up. They talked, on and off, for 13 months through U.N. mediator Martti Ahtisaari, until he gave up empty-handed earlier this year.

Kosovo at that point saw independence around the corner, and while Western powers drafted a U.N. resolution, the EU started building a supervisory mission to take over from the U.N.

But Serbia enlisted the help of veto-power Russia to block U.N. adoption of Ahtisaari's pro-independence blueprint and Russia has forced the West to bow to fresh talks, futile or not.

On the sidelines, partition of Kosovo has been mooted as the only possible compromise. But both principals rule it out.

DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF HISTORY

The omens are inauspicious for the Vienna talks. The Serbs say it is only "a consultative meeting", ahead of the real negotiations which will "begin at some point".

There is also no chance, says Serbia, of the talks being concluded by Dec. 10 as the West wants. The Kosovo Albanians dismiss the new round of talks as a stalling tactic, warning they will no longer play along.

Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku says a declaration of independence and recognition by Western powers "must happen immediately after December 10" -- the date that the "troika" of diplomats has agreed to report to the United Nations.

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, whose aides have recently taken to warning NATO against creating its own state in Kosovo, on Tuesday denounced Ceku's "very dangerous" threat.

Former U.S. ambassador to Serbia William Montgomery says any hope of compromise is doomed by Serbia's "totally different perception" of recent history. Fed on Milosevic propaganda, Serbs blame Kosovo Albanians for all that happened and see their country as "an innocent victim of malevolent outside forces".

The West, he warns, is deluding itself by assuming Serbs toppled Milosevic and chose Kostunica in 2000 "as a repudiation" of nationalist warmongering. Nationalism is thriving, even though evidence of Milosevic's disastrous legacy is all around.

Serbia is aiming to split the 27-member EU, which is struggling to hold a united line on Kosovo. A few EU members oppose independence for their own reasons, preferring a "frozen conflict" solution -- which analysts say is illusory.

The Albanians place their faith in Washington. President George W. Bush promised in June that "sooner rather than later" Kosov would be independent, by whatever route necessary.

The outgoing commander of 16,000 NATO-led troops in Kosovo warned on Tuesday of "increased nervousness" there and called for a swift decision. General Roland Kather said his men had increased patrols and were reviewing all contingency plans.

Even Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, envoy of the Kremlin which insisted on fresh talks, admits they will be "unbelievably difficult", and warns that the troika has no solutions.

"We are waiting for the two sides to find them," he said.

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