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Russia hails Western withdrawal of draft UN resolution on Kosovo |
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08:58, July 22, 2007 |
Russia hailed Friday''s decision to withdraw the latest draft resolution on Kosovo from the UN Security Council and warned against removing the issue from the UN framework, Russian Foreign Ministry said Saturday.
"We believe that (the draft''s revocation) is a step in the right direction and shows that the concerns over this draft resolution that were expressed by Russia and other members of the international community have been taken into account," it said in a press release posted on the ministry''s website.
"New rounds of negotiations should not be limited by any deadlines. It will be necessary to use additional measures to put into reality standards in the province and fully implement UN Security Council Resolution 1244. A UN Security Council mission that visited Kosovo in April recorded unsatisfactory performance by the provincial authorities in this respect," the ministry said.
"We specially point out that the current suspension of work on Kosovo in the UN Security Council does not mean removal of this issue from the UN framework. A definitive decision on the status will have to be made by the UN Security Council on the basis of agreements between the Serbs and Kosovo Albanians. Nothing other than a verdict of the UN Security Council can be legitimate," the release said.
"Let us remind that attempts to bypass the United Nations in Kosovo affairs would run against all international agreements on Kosovo, destabilize the Balkans, and stimulate separatists throughout the world," it said.
Earlier on Friday, France''s UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere said in New York that the United States and five EU member states, faced with the threat of a veto by Russia, has decided to give up their attempts to resolve the status of Kosovo in the UN Security Council and to transfer the process to the so- called Contact Group composed of the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Russia.
"We regret ... that it has been impossible to secure such a resolution in the United Nations Security Council," said de la Sabliere on behalf of the resolution''s sponsors.
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