Serious differences persist in UNSC over Kosovo status issue
ITAR-TASS - October 10, 2007 Wednesday 2:27 PM EST

UNITED NATIONS October 10 - Serious differences persist in the UN Security Council on the Kosovo status issue, as demonstrated statements of the Russian and US ambassadors to the UN made after closed-door consultations in the Council on Tuesday to discuss the UN chief's report on the state of affairs in Kosovo.

Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad expressed the view that the final status of Kosovo should be determined in the short run. He told journalists the European destiny depends on the success of this process. In the view of the American diplomat, it is no good to drag out the process of the determination of the future Kosovo status, because it is fraught with destabilisation of the situation in Kosovo, the region and Europe in general. According to Khalilzad, both Kosovo and Serbia are a part of Europe and they have European prospects.

He stresses as well that if the decision on the Kosovo issue is not found within the framework of talks under the aegis of the troika (Russia, the United States and European Union) of the Contact Group on Kosovo then it will be found another way. The mandate of the troika expires on December 10 this year and it would be good if Belgrade and Pristina reach mutual understanding by this date, the US ambassador to the UN noted.

Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin stressed for his part that the Kosovo status negotiations should have no deadline. The mandate of the troika indeed expires on December 10, 2007, however after that its members should submit to the UN head a report on the results of the talks, after which the UN secretary-general is to report to the UN Security Council, and only after that the Council members will make further decisions, Churkin noted. The mandate expiration does not mean that the future of Kosovo must be determined by that time, he said. "No one should have an impression that December 10 is a special day for the whole world," he said, as regards the negotiating process on Kosovo, he added.

At the same time the Russian diplomat criticised those who think that the negotiations have "predestined" results. "There can be no predestined solution, and this is clear from documents of the Contact Group," Churkin stated. Churkin said as well that "any other scenario," including unilateral proclamation of Kosovo independence is "unacceptable." "It will not bring stability to Kosovo, the region, and will not contribute to international stability," he noted.

Referring to the troika activity, the Russian diplomat stressed that its activity "has had a good start." Representatives of Russia, the United States and the European Union "have proven their ability to work together and have had several good contacts with the sides," he indicated. These contacts demonstrated possibilities for making progress at the negotiations, the Russian permanent representative to the United Nations said.

In the view of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, further dragging out of the process of the settlement of the Kosovo future status issue puts in jeopardy all UN achievements in the region in the period since June 1999. The UN chief in his report urged the sides to put forward specific and realistic proposals at the talks currently underway.

The UN treats these talks seriously and experts that the parties and troika will make everything they can to reach an agreement that could be approved by the UN Security Council, Ban Ki-moon noted.

However, he believes, taking into account considerable differences in the positions of the sides on the Kosovo status issue it is necessary to discuss what should be done in a situation when the sides fail to come to an agreement before the end of the talks. The dynamics of the process of the Kosovo status settlement should be maintained until its completion, the UN head stressed. Otherwise, in his view, the real risk of departure from the attained positions and return to instability in Kosovo and the region emerges.

Representatives of Belgrade and Pristina are currently holding consultations with the participation of the troika of international mediators of the Kosovo Contact Group on the future status of the region. However, on December 10 this issue will be returned to the UN Security Council that will consider a report on the results of these talks.

On Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russia intends to strictly comply with the principles of balanced mediation on Kosovo. Commenting on the results of a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and EU representative at the Kosovo talks Wolfgang Ischinger, the ministry said Russia "stressed the need to strictly comply with the mediators' (Russia, the EU and the US) principles of balanced mediation and be committed to UN Security Council Resolution 1244 on Kosovo settlement."

Russia confirmed that it intended to take an active part in the talks and search for ways to reach a compromise, which might be a base to settle the final status of Kosovo at the UN Security Council, the ministry reported.

The consultations involved Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov and co-chairman of the Contact Group on Kosovo Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko.

The Russian Foreign Ministry warns against incautious steps in the settlement of the Kosovo problem, ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said earlier.

"He who wants to really work for the settlement of the Kosovo problem should feel responsibility and not take any incautious steps that can lead to a wrong interpretation by one of the sides of the stance of the international mediators," Kamynin said, commenting on statements by European High Commissioner for External and Security Policy Javier Solana about the idea of sending police units to Kosovo without a UN resolution.

"The International community, in particular the Contact Group on Kosovo, and the troika should work for creating a constructive background for direct talks of Pristina and Belgrade. This is especially necessary considering the fact that the first meeting of this kind has taken place," Kamynin said.

The Troika will seek a compromise, Russian Foreign Ministry Representative to the Contact Group Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko said earlier. "Sergei Lavrov and Condoleezza Rice said that this compromise will be presented to the UN Security Council," he added.

"The New York meeting participants agreed to search for a compromise, which would gain support of the UN Security Council. This is the most important," he said. "All the sides suggested their ideas, which were included in the document. Everything has been done to reach a compromise at the current phase of the negotiations. Another important issue is that the settlement process will be based on UN Security Council resolution 1244."

Posted for Fair Use only.