|
Russia
and China 'pledge not to block new
Kosovo'
By GUY DINMORE and DANIEL
DOMBEY
Russia and
China have told the
US that they will not block the
independence of Kosovo, the breakaway Serbian province, according to western
diplomats.
Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, discussed the issue with
Sergei Lavrov, Russia's
foreign minister, in Washington last week and
was told Moscow
would not stand in the way of independence, the officials said.
Russia and China
would probably abstain in a proposed UN resolution that would grant
independence.
Kosovo, with its ethnic Albanian majority
and Serb minority, has been a ward of the UN since Nato forces bombed Serbia
to halt "ethnic cleansing" in 1999 and then took control of the province. But
the debate has entered a new phase with the start of UN-brokered negotiations to
decide Kosovo's final status.
The issue is particularly sensitive since
Serbia, which has offered Kosovo
autonomy rather than independence, is also involved in a face-off with the
international community over General Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb war crimes
indictee, who is still at large. The death last week of Slobodan Milosevic, Serbia's former president, has added
to the heady brew.
The US and UK are pushing for Serbia to
accept that Kosovo will become independent, while Russia, which had previously
worried that the province would set a precedent for its own republic of
Chechnya, has scaled down its objections.
The officials, who asked not to be named,
said the Bush administration had persuaded Moscow
and Beijing that independence for the Serbian
province was "unique" and would not set a precedent for Chechnya or for the Chinese-claimed territories
of Taiwan and Tibet.
However, analysts said some in Moscow wanted a better deal with Washington that might leave open the possibility of a
Kosovo-type solution for other regions, including Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia, which is
backed by Russia.
Last week Jack Straw, the UK
foreign secretary, said Kosovo's independence was "almost inevitable". But
Philippe Douste-Blazy, his French counterpart, stuck closer to the European
Union's official line by saying that negotiations should not be prejudged".
The EU has also told Serbia it has until the end of this month to
increase co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia over the detention and
transfer of Gen Mladic.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/24b5d91e-b399-11da-89c7-0000779e2340.html
| 
