Talks on Kosovo's future starts
Saturday, 29 September 2007
UNITED NATIONS, Sept 28 (AFP): Major powers urged Serbia and Kosovo's Albanian separatists to show "a constructive spirit" ahead of their direct talks on the breakaway province's future status to open Friday in New York.
With a December 10 deadline set in the last-ditch talks on Kosovo's future, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband called on Belgrade and Pristina Thursday to find a settlement "without delay."
But the two sides remained far apart, with Serbian President Boris Tadic urging Kosovo Albanians to compromise and not break away, and Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku insisting that the process "will end in the independence of Kosovo."
The six-nation contact group-France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United States-said they endorsed UN chief Ban Ki-moon's assessment that "the status quo is not sustainable."
With a December 10 deadline set in the last-ditch talks on Kosovo's future, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband called on Belgrade and Pristina Thursday to find a settlement "without delay."
But the two sides remained far apart, with Serbian President Boris Tadic urging Kosovo Albanians to compromise and not break away, and Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku insisting that the process "will end in the independence of Kosovo."
The six-nation contact group-France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United States-said they endorsed UN chief Ban Ki-moon's assessment that "the status quo is not sustainable."