Italian Foreign Minister Massimo d'Alema says that Serbia and leaders of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority should resume talks on the future status of the breakaway Serbian province, but only for a limited time.

The European Union and Serbia have resumed talks on closer ties, ending a 13-month freeze imposed by EU authorities in response to Serbian failure to hand over fugitive war crimes suspects thought to be hiding in the country.

Unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo could lead to the destabilization of the Balkans, a senior Bulgarian government official said Thursday.

Russia condemned Wednesday the launch of talks on a settlement plan for Kosovo without Moscow's participation, and suggested that Western nations are attempting to "unilaterally" push through an independence plan for the region.

Despite continuing international disagreement whether to give Kosovo independence, province's government on Wednesday launched a contest for a new flag and national anthem.

One day after the Group of Eight (G8) summit wrapped up in Germany, Russian President Vladimir Putin met on June 9 with Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on the sidelines of an economic forum in St. Petersburg. Afterward, Putin told reporters that it was "with pleasure" that he had informed Kostunica of the outcome of the G8's negotiations on the future status of Kosovo.

Serbian police say they have discovered a large cache of bullets and bomb-making material in a southern region bordering Kosovo.

U.S. President George W. Bush said during his visit to the Albanian capital Tirana on June 10 that Kosovo must have independence and it must happen soon. He reiterated his position today, as he wrapped up his European tour in Bulgaria. "The time is now to move the Ahtisaari plan," he said. "America believes that Kosovo ought to be independent."

U.S. President George W. Bush said yesterday during a visit to Albania that any talks on the future status of Kosovo must have the goal of "certain independence." Bush spoke to reporters in Tirana after meeting with Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha.

Serbia's prime minister said Saturday that granting Kosovo independence would set a precedent in violating international law. Speaking at an economic forum in Russia's second city, St. Petersburg, Vojislav Kostunica said: "Creating an independent state of Kosovo on the territory of Serbia, an internationally-recognized state, would set a severe precedent of violating international law."

Kosovo's Prime Minister Agim Ceku has appealed to world powers to adopt a United Nations resolution that would clear the way for the province's independence.

Russia has warned other world powers not to decide the fate of Kosovo on their own. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at the start of a meeting of G8 foreign ministers in Potsdam, Germany, that only talks between Belgrade and Pristina could solve a row over independence for the Serbian province.