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Leading U.S. and Georgian officials are issuing fresh warnings about the dangers to Europe of relying too heavily on energy supplies controlled by Russia. The warnings follow an agreement between Russia and resource-rich Central Asian states Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to build a new pipeline to carry natural gas to Europe via Russia.

The speaker of Georgia's parliament has called on Europe to diversify its energy resources and back oil and gas pipelines that bypass Russia. Nino Burjanadze said it was important not to depend on a single source for energy and that Tbilisi had suggested Europe use alternatives such as Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice begins discussions in Moscow later Monday with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, aimed at smoothing over Russian objections and mistrust over Washington's missile defense plans in Europe. Tuesday, Rice is scheduled for discussions with President Vladimir Putin.

Interior ministers of the G-6 countries - France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Spain and Britain - are in Venice for a two-day summit. In their first meeting Friday, discussions focused on immigration and drug trafficking. Sabina Castelfranco reports for VOA from Venice.

Western powers including US and its European allies have introduced a resolution in the Security Council backing a UN plan calling for Kosovo's independence from Serbia despite stiff opposition from veto-wielding Russia.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has issued a series of recommendations to help integrate refugees in Europe with the aim of enabling them to become productive members of society whether they stay or return home.

A top European Union official has urged Southeastern European leaders to work on reforms to earn membership in the bloc. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told a summit of 11 Balkan leaders in Zagreb that the EU will support reform in the region, which remains Europe's "missing limb."

The United States and European countries are set to introduce a resolution in the United Nations Security Council calling for independence for Serbia's province of Kosovo. The U.S. ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, said he believes a majority of the Security Council's 15 member nations will support the proposal for internationally supervised independence for Kosovo.

The newly elected speaker of the Serbian parliament has said Serbia should seek closer ties with Russia and not the West. Tomislav Nikolic, of the nationalist Serbian Radical Party, said Russia would bring together "nations that will stand up against the hegemony of America and the European Union."

Specialists from the International Energy Agency and Oxford University Monday told a Washington forum that despite European Union efforts to diversify sources, Russia's Gazprom is likely to retain its dominant position in supplying gas to Western Europe. VOA's Barry Wood reports.

The United States and Russia have agreed to hold special cabinet-level talks in an effort to resolve a dispute over U.S. plans to put elements of a missile defense system in central Europe. Russia contends the U.S. plan would undercut its strategic deterrence. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.