Duma urges US not to speed up Kosovo's future status

Duma urges US not to speed up Kosovo's future status
Itar-Tass - February 9, 2007 Friday 06:39 AM EST

MOSCOW, February 9 - Russia can use its right of veto at the UN Security Council, if the issue on Kosovo's future status is speeded up, the head of Duma international affairs committee, Konstantin Kosachev, said after talks with U.S. special envoy to the Kosovo final status talks on Friday.

He said the U.S. insists the Kosovo status talks entered a final stage and could stand no more procrastination.

US envoy Frank Wisner pointed out that the Kosovo status talks ``should not be infinite,'' therefore the UN Security Council should consider this issue no later than the end of March.

Kosachev believes that the plan submitted by UN special envoy on Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari that in fact grants independence to Kosovo should be coordinated both with Pristina and Belgrade.

``Until now there was no such a consent. Hasty actions to put this issue on the UN Security Council's agenda will only provoke Russia and may be China to exercise their right of veto. This will have extremely unpleasant effects not only on the Kosovo problem settlement, but also in the global geopolitical context,'' he said.

``Implementation of common human rights and ethnic minorities standards that are now far from being ideal in the republic should be the indispensable condition for reaching progress in Kosovo's status talks,'' Kosachev said.