Russia, India, China support resumption of talks regarding Kosovo's status

15/05/2008

MOSCOW, Russia -- Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says the governments of Russia, India and China all want to see talks resume between Belgrade and Pristina on Kosovo's final status, even though Pristina declared independence nearly three months ago. After a trilateral meeting Thursday (May 15th) in Ekaterinburg between the foreign ministers of the three countries, Lavrov said, "We think [Kosovo] should be resolved exclusively based on international law. The unilateral declaration of Kosovo contradicts Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council."

Separately Wednesday, Serbia announced its opposition to NATO plans to train Kosovo's security forces. Serbian General Staff chief Zdravko Ponos spelled out the position on the sidelines of a regular meeting of chiefs of the defence staff from the 26 NATO allies in Brussels. He noted, however, that regardless of the differences Serbia has with most NATO members regarding Kosovo's status, Belgrade will continue to co-operate with the alliance in reforming its military. (ITAR-TASS, BTA, Vesti - 15/05/08; AP, RIA Novosti, Beta, Tanjug, Blic - 14/05/08)