UN SC DROPS BID FOR INDEPENDENCE OF KOSOVA

by a Russian veto threat, supporters of a UN plan to grant independence to the Serb province of Kosovo ended their bid in the Security Council. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for Serbia and the political leaders of Kosovo to be included in talks on the future of the breakaway Serb republic. Although approval of a United Nations Security Council resolution on the future status of the territory, remained the main priority, Steinmeier said after talks in Berlin with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. Shortly after the minister spoke, however, the United States envoy at the UN said negotiations at the world body on a draft resolution for Kosovo had failed. US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said Washington would seek a non-UN resolution to the dispute over Kosovo’s political future because Russia has blocked Security Council efforts to settle that issue. Western nations have been trying to push a draft resolution in the UN Security Council to implement key provisions of UN mediator Martti Ahtissari’s plan to grant "supervised independence" to the breakaway Albanian-majority Serbian province. But they have hurtled into opposition from Moscow, Belgrade’s key ally, which has repeatedly threatened to veto a Security Council resolution under discussion.