Russia warns on Kosovo as G8 ministers meet
30 May 2007 13:21:38 GMT Source: Reuters Kosovo <http://www.alertnet.org/db/crisisprofiles/KO_VIO.htm?v=at_a_glance> future Kosovo <http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/db/crisisprofiles/KO_VIO.htm?v=at_ a_glance> future More <http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/emergency/> (Adds Rice on Kosovo, Japan on Iran, Pakistan minister) By Madeline Chambers and Sue Pleming POTSDAM, Germany, May 30 (Reuters) - Russia warned other world powers on Wednesday not to decide the fate of Kosovo on their own, saying only talks between Belgrade and Pristina could solve a row over independence for the Serbian province. "The fate of Kosovo, the fate of Serbia on the whole should be decided through their direct talks rather than in New York, Potsdam or in any other formats," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at the start of a meeting of Group of Eight (G8) countries in Potsdam, according to Russian news agencies. Serbia, backed by Russia, opposes a plan proposed by United Nations mediator Martti Ahtisaari offering the Albanian majority province independence under international supervision. Western powers have backed a U.N. resolution that would grant Kosovo effective independence, but do not have support from Moscow, a veto-wielding member of the Security Council. Ahead of the meeting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier stressed the need for U.N. Security Council action on Kosovo, underscoring the differences with Russia. "We need to make it clear to our Russian partners that without a decision by the Security Council we simply won't make any progress on the western Balkans and Kosovo," Steinmeier, who is hosting the Potsdam meeting, said. Kosovo has become a major irritant in relations between Russia and the West and G8 president Germany does not want the issue to overshadow a leaders' summit it is hosting next week in the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm. Rice said it was time to act on Kosovo and vowed to discuss the issue with Lavrov. Separately, Ahtisaari told a Finnish newspaper the United Nations should pass the Kosovo resolution next month, saying the province would become independent one way or another. IRAN, SUDAN In addition to Kosovo, G8 foreign ministers are discussing the nuclear standoff with Iran and the unresolved conflict in Sudan's Darfur region. G8 countries are likely to wait until after a Thursday meeting in Madrid between European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani before finalising any statements on Iran. A Japanese foreign ministry spokesman said G8 ministers would send a clear message of "strong concern" to Iran over its refusal to meet Western demands that it halt uranium enrichment. The foreign ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan are also meeting in Potsdam to find ways to cooperate on sealing the long, porous border between the neighbours, who have accused each other of failing to stop a Taliban insurgency. "We have a vital interest in peace and stability in Afghanistan," Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri said. "History has taught us that when there is trouble in Afghanistan, it tends to spill over into Pakistan and we are very mindful of that." In the evening, Steinmeier, Lavrov, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Rice head to Berlin for a meeting of the Middle East "Quartet" on the increasingly tense relations between Israel and the Palestinians. (Additional reporting by Thomas Krumenacker, Louis Charbonneau and Markus Krah) AlertNet <http://www.alertnet.org/> news is provided by <http://www.alertnet.org/redir.htm?URL=http://www.reuters.com/> http://www.alertnet.org/images/reuterslog.gif
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