Russia Said To Seek Delay In UN Kosovo Plan

(RFE/RL) January 26, 2007 -- A Western diplomat has said. that Russia wants any UN decision on the future of Kosovo to be put off until after Serbia has formed a new government following inconclusive general elections on January 21.

Western news agencies quoted the unnamed diplomat as saying Russia urged the delay at a meeting of the six-member Contact Group in Vienna today.

The five Western members of the Contact Group -- the United States, Britain, France, Italy and Germany -- reportedly saw no need for delay.

Kosovar Prime Minister Agim Ceku also said today there was no need for any further delay in implementing the UN proposal.

The Contact Group had previously asked UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari to delay his proposal on Kosovo until after Serbia's general elections.

Ceku said the Contact Group then assured his government there would not be another delay.

(Reuters, AP)

The Kremlin Looks At Kosovo...And Beyond

Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) greets Serbian President Boris Tadic in the Kremlin in November 2005 (TASS)

WILL THE KREMLIN BACK INDEPENDENCE? As the drive for independence grows in the Serbian province of Kosovo, the international community is speculating on how Russia, a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council, will act. On September 22, Nicholas Whyte, director of the International Crisis Group's Europe Program, gave a briefing on the subject at RFE/RL's Washington, D.C., office. He speculated on what the Kremlin's "price" might be for agreeing to Kosovo's separation from Serbia.