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Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the draft by U.S. and European powers was a stealth move toward independence, despite its call for 120 days of further talks between Belgrade and Pristina.
The draft was the fourth on Kosovo to be considered by the UN Security Council in recent months.
Russia, a veto-wielding member of the Security Council, backs Serbia in opposing the possibility of independence for Kosovo.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on July 16 urged the Security Council to vote quickly on a draft resolution to settle Kosovo's future status, saying "a further delay or prolongation is not desirable."
On July 13, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad threatened to move forward on Kosovo outside the Security Council whether or not Russia agreed to the resolution.
Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
Posted July 17th, 2007 by Dinka
