United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed hope today that meetings between U.S. and Russian Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin will lead to a breakthrough over Kosovo's independence.

The United Nations should shelve its policy on the use of rubber bullets and reconsider whether to authorize their use in peacekeeping missions, a U.N. prosecutor said Monday.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has asked Kosovo Albanians for "patience" in their quest for independence. Speaking after talks Friday with the province's Prime Minister Agim Ceku in the Kosovo capital, Pristina, de Hoop Scheffer said Western powers need more time to guide the independence process through the United Nations.

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica says a new battle is being fought with the United States for control of Kosovo province. His comments Thursday came as hundreds of Serb hardliners marched in the contested province to commemorate the anniversary of a 600-year-old Serb battle of Kosovo with Ottoman Turks.

On June 28 the World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved a US$5 million grant in additional financing for the Kosovo Energy Sector Clean-up and Land Reclamation Project.

NATO and Russia don't see eye-to-eye on a lot of issues, but one thing they can agree on is that communication is the key to overcoming their differences.

Serbia is ready for a "compromise" over Kosovo but warned that the independence for the breakaway province could destabilize Europe.

Russia has rejected a revised UN Security Council resolution that would delay independence for Kosovo to give the province's ethnic Albanian majority and Serbs more time to negotiate the future status of the Serbian territory.

Russian envoy at the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said Wednesday Moscow will not participate in discussions over the new draft resolution on Kosovo.

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic says Belgrade is "ready to make a deal" on the final status of its breakaway province of Kosovo. Jeremic made the announcement after talks with his Greek counterpart Dora Bakoyannis in Athens.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried has reaffirmed the Bush administration's position that Serbia's breakaway province of Kosovo must be granted independence.

Authorities in Montenegro have arrested a former Serbian government official and police commander wanted in The Hague for murder and persecution of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.