Kosovo talks end in deadlock

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Source: CCTV.com | 12-09-2007 10:28

Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica gestures as he briefs the media during talks on the UN Kosovo plan for the independence of Serbia's breakaway Kosovo province, in Baden, some 50 kilometres south of Vienna, November 27, 2007. REUTERS/Herwig Prammer

Negotiations between Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders and Serbia over the future status of Kosovo are deadlocked. That's the conclusion of a report handed to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. But Russia says talks between Belgrade and Pristina should continue even after the December 10th deadline.

The report by a troika of US, Russian, and European mediators says negotiations failed because neither party was willing to cede its position on the fundamental question of sovereignty.

The report says Pristina insists on its preference for Kosovo's supervised independence. But Belgrade has rejected the proposal and restated its preference for maintaining Kosovo as part of Serbia.

Meanwhile, Russia is urging for the negotiations to continue.

Vitaly Churkin, Russian ambassador to the UN, said, "We certainly believe that it was a very worthwhile exercise and an exercise that produced some very serious results. While it may be premature to talk about confidence between the two parties, certainly we think it was important for them to start overcoming their long standing hostility."

Kosovo has threatened to declare independence if no deal is reached on its final status before December 10th.

The UN has announced the report will be transferred to the Security Council on Sunday. The Security Council is scheduled to discuss the report on December 19th.

Editor:Du Xiaodan