The United States reiterated Monday that it supports "supervised independence" for Kosovo from Serbia, saying it will work closely with partners on the issue.
"We continue to believe that implementation of the Ahtisaari plan will promote stability in the region and enable both Serbia and Kosovo to move forward on the Euro-Atlantic path," State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said.
Gallegos was referring to the plan put forward by U.N. special envoy Martti Ahtisaari concerning the future of Kosovo.
Moreover, Gallegos said the United States regrets "that leaders from Serbia and Kosovo did not reach agreement."
The United States has voiced support for Kosovo independence. However, the move has been strongly opposed by both Serbia and Russia.
A spokesman for the Kosovo negotiating team said on Monday Kosovo ethnic Albanian leaders will declare independence from Serbia before May next year after intensive consultations with Western countries on steps leading to a declaration of independence and subsequent international recognition.
The Kosovo province of 2 million population, most of whom are ethnic Albanians demanding independence from Serbia, has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when NATO bombing forced the evacuation of Serbian forces fighting insurgent ethnic Albanians.
The troika of the United States, European Union (EU) and Russian envoys had been given a Dec. 10 deadline to complete the negotiations report, but they submitted a report to the United Nations on Friday saying neither side had given ground on sovereignty.
Source: Xinhua
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