UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — Major powers urged Serbia and Kosovo's Albanian separatists to show "a constructive spirit" ahead of their direct talks on the breakaway province's future status to open Friday in New York.
With a December 10 deadline set in the last-ditch talks on Kosovo's future, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband called on Belgrade and Pristina Thursday to find a settlement "without delay."
But the two sides remained far apart, with Serbian President Boris Tadic urging Kosovo Albanians to compromise and not break away, and Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku insisting that the process "will end in the independence of Kosovo."
In a joint statement Thursday, members of the six-nation contact group -- France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United States -- said they endorsed UN chief Ban Ki-moon's assessment that "the status quo is not sustainable."
"It has damaging consequences for Kosovo's political, social and economic development and for the underlying stability of the region. A solution therefore has to be found without delay," the statement said.
The two sides "need to engage with the troika (of mediators) with a constructive spirit," Miliband said.
In the talks US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reiterated US backing for the three mediators, State Department spokesman Edgar Vasquez said.
"She stressed that the troika process is not open-ended," and will end on December 10, he said.
Diplomatic sources said release of the statement was delayed by Russia's objection to setting the deadline.
The direct talks, part of a process that begun in August after the Security Council failed to agree on UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari's blueprint for Kosovo's supervised independence, are a last-ditch attempt to bridge the differences between the parties.
Troika members -- EU delegate Wolfgang Ischinger, US diplomat Frank Wisner and Russian envoy Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko -- are to report to Ban on the outcome of the negotiating process by December 10.
Earlier Thursday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the tough discussions were entering a "decisive phase."
But in an address to the UN General Assembly Thursday, Serbia's Tadic urged Kosovo Albanian leaders to accept a compromise solution that would lead to long-term reconciliation.
"We call on the legitimate representatives of Kosovo Albanians to proceed to the resumed negotiations without prejudging the outcome, so that a compromise solution, acceptable to both parties, could be achieved, a solution that would lead to long-term Serbian/Albanian reconciliation," he noted.
He recalled Belgrade's offer to grant Kosovo Albanians "special rights and competences for an autonomous development of their community" within Serbia.
And he warned against a unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo Albanians, saying this would set a precedent for many separatist movements around the world and would have a destabilizing effect.
Ceku reiterated his determination to gain Kosovo's independence before flying to New York for the talks.
"We are committed to the independence of Kosovo being defined or decided immediately after December 10," he said.
"We prefer a solution through the Security Council but we are also prepared to offer and make the final solution by ourselves. This process can lead us to making a unilateral declaration of independence," he warned.
That scenario has been openly backed by the United States, but opposed by Serbia's ally Russia, which has blocked a series of Security Council resolutions for Kosovo's "internationally supervised independence."
It has also split the European Union, which is pressing ahead with a massive civilian mission in Kosovo despite doubts about the future status of the disputed Balkan territory.
Kosovo, which legally remains a province of Serbia, has been run by a UN mission since NATO forced Belgrade-backed troops to withdraw in 1999, ending a brutal crackdown against separatist ethnic Albanians.
The province's population is 90 percent ethnic Albanian.
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