Russian official: Russia to veto any UN Kosovo resolution unacceptable to Serbia
The Associated Press - July 19, 2007

BELGRADE, Serbia: Russia will veto any U.N. Security Council resolution on Kosovo that is unacceptable to Serbia, a senior Russian official said Thursday.

The statement by Boris Gryzlov, the speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, was the strongest sign yet that Russia is set on rejecting the final version of a U.N. draft resolution, which is backed firmly by the United States and the European Union.

Russia, an ally of Serbia, contends the resolution is a hidden route to the Serbian province's independence.

"In the case the resolution is put to a vote, Russia will use its veto right," Gryzlov said in Montenegro. Kosovo's independence "would represent a fuse that would ignite several conflicts in different parts of the world," he added.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, meanwhile, indicated the U.S. was ready to recognize Kosovo even without U.N. backing.

"We are committed to an independent Kosovo, and we will get there one way or another," Rice told reporters on the way to Lisbon, Portugal, where she was attending the Quartet meeting for Middle East peace.

In Belgrade, Serbian government minister Zoran Loncar reiterated that "Serbia strongly rejects ideas" about a new resolution and is "convinced" Russia will prevent its approval at the U.N. Security Council.

The U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Zalmay Khalilzad, said the security council would discuss the draft Thursday in closed consultations.

The document calls for four months of intensive negotiations between Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority, which is clamoring for independence, and Serbia, which wants the province to remain within its territory.

A Kosovo Albanian leader, however, on Thursday set Dec. 25 as the deadline for the province's parliament to declare independence from Serbia, and thus "fulfill the obligation to Kosovo's citizens."

The move by Veton Surroi was a sign of tensions that Western leaders fear could lead to violence if the province's status is not defined soon.

Kosovo also will be on the agenda of the meeting Friday between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, officials said.

Kosovo has been under U.N. and NATO administration since a 1999 NATO-led air war halted a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.

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