“Kosovo’s independence inevitable”

“Kosovo’s independence inevitable”

According to her, the U.S. would continue with efforts to “engage Russia in the process of Kosovo’s status settlement, hoping that a satisfactory solution is within reach.”

“The process has to move forward, which is crucial for the entire region. Kosovo is an unresolved issue that currently impedes the regions’ progress. In our opinion, independence of Kosovo is inevitable,” Di Carlo said.

However, she declined to make a prognosis as to what might happen if Belgrade and Priština fell short of agreeing over the province’s status during 120 days of renewed negotiations.

“I would not speculate about how we may act as we have not yet come to that point. We will do our best to, together with Russia and all concerned parties, move the process forward and solve the issue.”

Meanwhile, it was announced that the UN Security Council will hold consultations on the new Kosovo resolution draft behind closed doors today.

The latest proposal on the province's future status was drafted and presented three days ago by the U.S. and EU.

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad said last night that the U.S. and European Union would present their plans for Kosovo today, adding that Russia will be given one more day to make its stance clear.

“Russia's stance will be made clear on Friday—whether it will allow the Security Council to proceed or not,” Khalilzad said.

An EU representative to the UN Security Council who wished to remain anonymous, said that Russia “has firm intentions to use its veto, though it is not prepared to say so just yet.”