Russia needs to examine U.N. envoy's proposal on Kosovo: PM

Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Saturday that his country needs to examine the new proposal on the status of Kosovo.

"We need to examine (U.N. envoy Martti) Ahtisaari's plan carefully," Medvedev, who is here attending the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, told reporters.

He said the Kosovo problem cannot be addressed in isolation from other similar issues. Otherwise, the handling can become a precedent, he said.

International precedents can be positive or negative, said Medvedev, adding his country does not know whether Ahtisaari's proposal is a good one or not.

Ahtisaari on Friday briefed the United States, Russia and key European countries on his proposal for the future status of Kosovo, a Serbian province put under U.N. administration in 1999 after NATO airstrikes on the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Ahtisaari's proposal, which opens way for Kosovo independence, immediately created division between Russia on the one hand and the United States and Europe on the other.

There are reports that Russia has asked for more time on the issue as Serbia has yet to form a government.

Source: Xinhua