Posted on 05/27/2007 5:34:14 AM PDT by kronos77
LONDON -- Tim Judah says it is only a matter of time before Western diplomats admit Kosovo’s status solution should be postponed.
“According to usually well informed sources, Russia did tentatively float the idea of cooperation over Kosovo with the U.S. in exchange for its backing down over its planned missile shield, to which it objects,” Judah, a leading Balkan commentator, writes in BIRN’s online edition.
“This is believed to have happened in talks with Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. Secretary of State, in Moscow ten days ago. The idea made no headway. Since then the possibility of a compromise being struck over Kosovo has narrowed significantly.”
Judah adds that while some still hope a deal might be struck at the G8 summit in June, similar hopes rose before Condoleezza Rice's trip to Moscow and then again before the ill-fated EU-Russian summit in Samara a week ago.
“Russia now appears to have put itself in a position whereby anything that opened the door to Kosovo's independence would be a humiliation; therefore its interests seem to dictate that it has no choice but to continue to block this,” Judah concludes.
Ping!
how can the u.s. have its’ head so far up its’ collective fundament on this issue? give the muzzies kosovo because they drove out the kosovars? by this continuing “logic” the Mexicans should own California now. why on Earth would the u.s. be pushing to set this precedent? to deny Russia access to the pipelines America wants to build, or to gain geo-political “hand” with the KLA?
something is seriously wrong here...
Can the US stance toward the Balkans Jihadists be considered anything but appeasement?
Follow the money from DC to Saudi Arabia and back.
Follow the money from Saudi Arabia to the former Yugoslavia then on to the US
Follow the Kosovo Albanian Money from the Balkans to the US.
Saudi Arabia is orchestrated this and what the Saudis want, the Saudis get. The Saudis want an independent Muslim Bosnia and a Muslim Kosovo, they get it because US foreign policy has become nothing more than Saudi Arabia's "muscle".
The reasons are not that complicated.
As early 1973, we knew that we had an energy problem and that we were too reliant on Saudi Arabia and the ME, but DC sat on their hands and did absolutely nothing about investing in other non-oil energy sources. Gas guzzling SUV's came along and fuel efficiency never improved. And ultimately the Saudis had us by the short-hairs. Saudi Arania could collapse our entire economy by shutting off the the oil teat for our enormous oil appetite, and we'd be screwed. So, if it is a little "Mecca-bowing" the Saudis want, we give it to them. If it is "a couple of little pieces of Christian land in the Balkans", we give it to them. A special ambassador to Islam? Done!
We keep ignoring the fact that feeding our Christian allies to the Saudi monster only makes the monster stronger and makes us weaker.
Russian official: EU and U.S. may agree to Kosovo delay
29 May 2007 | 18:52 | Source: Euobserver.com
BRUSSELS -- Russia says the West may agree to put off a decision on the final status of Kosovo, EUobserver reports.
"We should find a text that would allow all the parties [including Serbia and Kosovo] to continue to work on the acceptable terms of a solution," the head of the Europe desk at the Russian foreign ministry, Sergei Ryabkov, told press in Brussels on Tuesday.
The comment comes despite earlier promises to Kosovo Albanians they would have independence by June.
"If this is accepted, we would be more than happy to continue working on the language [of a UN resolution]. There are some signs that this is the case," he added, following UN talks in New York last week and a telephone call between Bush and Putin on Monday.
At the time, senior U.S. diplomat Nicholas Burns said Washington expected the deal to be adopted in late May or early June. Kosovo Albanian prime minister Agim Ceku also predicted that the region would gain independence in a matter of "weeks."
But a Russian official told EUobserver Moscow would only agree to a UN resolution that calls for further talks under international supervision between Belgrade and Priština on Kosovo's status.
It would also agree to a new resolution that calls for the full implementation of resolution 1244 on the rights of the ethnic Serb minority, with a new EU police mission and the old NATO force to stay and keep the peace until 1244 has been fulfilled.
"There is no political force in Russia, on the left or right, that would accept Kosovo independence, at least not right now," the head of the Russian parliament's foreign affairs committee, Konstantin Kosachev, said on Tuesday.
"This is not an urgent decision that we need to have at any price by a certain date."
Meanwhile, another element of uncertainty was added this week by reports in leading Croatian daily Jutarnji List on Monday that the U.S. and Russia were close to a deal that would involve Russian peacekeeping troops in Kosovo and U.S. side-promises not to expand NATO to Ukraine and Georgia.
The report cited Russian officials "close to" president Putin.
But EU, UN and Russian officials poured cold water on the information on Tuesday. "I would take it with a big pinch of salt," an EU official said. "It looks like provocation or wishful thinking," a Russian diplomat said.
Comments (1) | Send your comment
[B92]
Thanks man, gooooood news:)
3 June 2007 | 11:10 | Source: B92
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. will decide whether to continue to support a new resolution or postpone the status settlement, an analyst says.
Obrad Kesić, political analyst based in Washington, told B92 he believed the week to come will be crucial for the process of KosovoÂ’s future status settlement.
“The U.S. Administration has set a deadline to decide this week whether to continue to push the draft Kosovo resolution, and the UN Security Council vote on the same, or to postpone the settlement process,” he said.
According to Kesić, a lot would depend on the upcoming meeting of U.S. President George Bush and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the G8 summit due to begin on June 6 in Rostock, Germany.
“The expectations that the meeting might bring about a change in their positions have been scaled down to a minimum. It would then be up to Washington to decide on the future moves regarding Kosovo, as it can choose to push the resolution or try to find room for compromise,” he said. “In my opinion, chances for a compromise are slim. Russia and the U.S. will probably reevaluate their overall relations, not only with respect to Kosovo but to much more important issues relevant to them, and then decide on the manner of their future co-operation,” Kesić went on to explain.
He also said that if the swift adoption of a new Kosovo resolution remained the American choice, the UN vote would ensue after June 10.
“However, I believe the U.S. will decide to put off the vote, hoping the situation may change if more time was given to talks with Russia, trying to reach a kind of a compromise over the resolutionÂ’s content,” Kesić concluded.
Comments (8) | Send your comment
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.