NEW YORK, United States -- The UN Security Council met on Monday (July 9th) to discuss a report on Kosovo by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, but the group remained divided on the province's future status.
US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said after the meeting that Washington and its European allies would present a new fourth draft resolution on Kosovo by the end of this week. "I believe that the next week, ten days, is a decisive period," he said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that his country would prevent the council's adoption of any resolution that is not acceptable to Serbia.
Meanwhile, Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku said in a radio address on Monday that the West must set a clear deadline for Kosovo's independence. "President [George W] Bush said that one day we should say 'enough is enough'.
This 'enough' should have a date. We need a clear calendar, a clear date and a clear way to resolve Kosovo's status," he said. US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried, who was in Pristina on Monday, warned that "unilateral declarations based on fear and lack of confidence will not help the cause of Kosovo independence." He reiterated Washington's position in favor of allowing more time for negotiations.
In related news, UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker said during his regular briefing of the Security Council on Monday (July 9th) that there needs to be a road map for settling the Kosovo status issue as soon as possible. Kosovo's citizens and politicians "fear that the status process is losing momentum and what had appeared to have been an imminent resolution of Kosovo status will unravel," Ruecker told the council. (The New York Times, Politika, Blic, RTS, Beta, Tanjug, B92, AP, Reuters, UN News Centre, UPI, SeTimes, Albanian Times)
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