Kosovo hopes fade
Thursday, 20 Dec 2007 10:33
Hopes of agreement on future of Kosovo "exhausted" - EU and US
In Focus
Day-by-day updates on the situation in Georgia, as Russia continues to raise the diplomatic states over the future of its breakaway provinces. Full Story
Negotiators have admitted a final agreement on the future is Kosovo is not going to be reached.
The EU and the US say the hopes of a deal that appeals to both the ethnic Albanian majority in Kosovo and its Serbian minority are "exhausted".
A joint statement said the EU would now take a lead in guiding Kosovo's future.
"It's clear in our view that more negotiations in this or any other format will not make a difference," the EU and US said after a closed-doors hearing of the UN security council.
"The potential for a negotiated solution is now exhausted."
Russia, the Troika's third member, has warned a unilateral declaration of independence would be illegal.
Moscow's ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said such a move would be "outside the limits of international law".
Ethnic Albanians outnumber Serbs and other minorities by nine to one in Kosovo, which has been administered by the UN since western troops drove out Yugoslav forces in 1999.
Kosovo already enjoys a degree of autonomy but while Pristina is in favour of outright independence, Belgrade remains vehemently opposed to such a path.
Earlier in December four months of "intense and high-level negotiations" failed to find a solution over disputed Kosovo's future.