And still the same situation remains in Kosovo. The status talks ended with Serbia still making outreaches toward Kosovo but remaining firm on witholding independence, while Kosovo will settle for nothing less. America is still working for Kosovo independence, Russia is still trying to block it. Latest news:
United States said Monday it will move forward with a UN plan granting Kosovo independence from Serbia after the two sides were unable to reach an agreement about the status of the small province. A US State Department spokesman, Gonzalo Gallegos, said the United States will back the plan drawn up by special UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari that would give Kosovo independence under international supervision.
"We continue to believe that implementation of the Ahtisaari plan will promote stability in the region and enable both Serbia and Kosovo to move forward on the Euro-Atlantic path," Gallegos said.
The deadline for negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo's ethnic majority Albanian leadership expired on Monday without a deal, meaning the United States and European Union could proceed with the Ahtisaari plan. Russia, Serbia's traditional ally, has threatened to block the plan on the Security Council.
"Over the next few weeks the United States will work closely with our international partners to resolve this issue," Gallegos said. "The people of Kosovo and the region urgently need clarity about their future."
The United States, European Union and Russia had been mediating between the two sides and "explored every realistic option for an agreement," Gallegos said.
The European Union was attempting Monday to find a unified stance on the Kosovo situation.
RUSSIA CALLS ON UN TO ANNUL ANY UNILATERAL KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE DECLARATION
16:43 Tue 11 Dec 2007 - Elitsa Savova
Russia will demand from the United Nations Security Council to annul any unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo, Russia's envoy to Kosovo independence talks, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko said.
“Russia will of course demand the annulment of such a decision. We will demand a meeting of the Security Council because it would be a violation of a Council resolution,” he said as quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Russia, along with the EU and US, is holding negotiations with Kosovo and Serbia on the future status of Kosovo. Russia was a traditional alley of Serbia and opposed Kosovo's independence, insisting on negotiations to be prolonged, AFP said.
The parties had to come up with a decision that would be acceptable to all by December 10 2007.
Meanwhile, Kosovo's main political parties announced that they would begin negotiations on a coalition government to lead the province to a declaration of independence from Serbia in early 2008, Reuters reported.
“The Democratic Party of Kosovo of prime minister-apparent Hashim Thaci invited the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) to set aside their bitter rivalry since the 1998-99 war and discuss the formation of a ‘grand coalition’,” Reuters said.
Thaci’s party won the parliamentary election in Kosovo on November 17, but had been waited until the failure of the negotiations, to invite LDK for participation in a coalition. LDK representative told Reuters that the party agreed on the talks.
