U.S., Russia view Kosovo issue resolution
differently - Lavrov
RIA Novosti - February 3, 2007
MOSCOW, February 3 (RIA Novosti) - Views of Russia and the United States on the
resolution of the Kosovo issue are principal in nature, the Russian foreign
minister said Saturday.
Russia has been repeatedly saying that a decision on independence of Serbia's
predominantly Albanian Kosovo region should satisfy both Kosovar and Serbian
authorities and must be made through negotiations, while the U.S. has been
pushing for the resolution of the issue through the UN Security Council saying
the region should be granted some form of independence.
"Kosovo is the issue, which in comparison with Iran, Iraq and the Middle East
[issues], has principal differences in our positions. So far we have no common
vision on the resolution of this issue," Sergei Lavrov said upon his return to
Moscow from Washington, where he attended the meeting of the Quartet of Middle
East mediators comprising the United Nations, Russia, the European Union and the
United States.
The Russian minister said the possible variant of the resolution should satisfy
both Pristina and Belgrade but the United States has a different view of the
issue saying that it would be wrong to linger and resolve the issue within the
UN Security Council, which is expected to vote on a final draft resolution on
Kosovo in March.
On Friday United Nations envoy Martti Ahtisaari met with Serbian President Boris
Tadic to discuss plans for Serbia and Kosovo, which were interpreted by both
sides as suggesting a division of the territories, and foreseeing eventual
independence for Kosovo. Following the meeting Tadic said Serbia will never
recognize Kosovo's independence.
Russia, a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council and a traditional ally
of Belgrade, has repeatedly said that sovereignty for the UN-administered
Serbian province of Kosovo could have negative consequences for unresolved
conflicts in the former Soviet Union that erupted in the early 1990s.
Last November, thousands of Kosovar Albanians attacked the UN headquarters in
the capital, Pristina, over a delayed decision on their demand for independence.
The region has been a UN protectorate since NATO's military campaign against
Belgrade to end a war between Serb forces and Albanian separatists in 1999.
Copyright 2007 RIA Novosti
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