Russian FM says new plan for Kosovo must be written from scratch: reports Jul 25 2007, 10:45
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's foreign minister said July 24 that a new round of international talks on Kosovo status shouldn't be based on a previous Western-backed independence plan for the province and a new document should take into account the Serbian interests. Sergey Lavrov said that the previous plan drawn by U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari "can't form the basis for the new talks," the ITAR-Tass, Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies reported. Speaking at a Cabinet meeting chaired by President Vladimir Putin, Lavrov added that "we will take into account positions taken by all sides, including the Serbs." While Kosovo is a province of Serbia, it has been under U.N. and NATO administration since a 78-day NATO-led air war that halted a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists in 1999. Earlier this month, the United States and the EU were forced to withdraw from the U.N. Security Council their latest draft of a resolution on Kosovo's future which was rejected by Russia, a veto-wielding member of the council. Russia, a close ally of Serbia ally, said the text contained a hidden path toward Kosovo's independence. View article... <http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r1033823876>
