Kosovo onderhandelingen verplaatst naar VN na het vastlopen in Wenen (en)

The UN's envoy, Martti Ahtisaari, is set to take the dispute over the future status of Kosovo to the Security Council in late March after Serbian and Kosovan leaders failed to reach a compromise deal.

Following a final meeting between the two parties in Vienna on Friday and Saturday (9 and 10 March), Mr Ahtisaari said that the one-year long negotiations had been exhausted, leaving no "common ground" between Belgrade and Pristina.

"I regret to say that at the end of the day, there was no will on the part of the parties to move away from their positions," he commented, according to the BBC.

The move to shift the talks from Vienna to New York was widely expected as Kosovo Albanians welcomed but Serbs firmly rejected Mr Ahtisaari's draft blueprint for the province's future, which suggests partial independence for the UN-administered region.

Serbian prime minister Vojislav Kostunica criticised the decision to push for an international resolution on the issue and called on the discussions between the involved parties to continue.

"Snatching Kosovo from Serbia would represent the most dangerous precedent in the history of the UN," he told the meeting.

Kosovan president Fatmir Sejdiu reiterated that independence was "the beginning and end of our position" and foreseeing Kosovo's future as "a modern state which came to fruition after a history of resistance to foreign occupation," Reuters reported.

While Serbs are hopeful of Russia and China's veto against Mr Ahtisaari's proposal, the Kosovan Albanians are counting on the support of the EU and US.

EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn i suggested that the "great powers should no longer postpone the resolution of the future Kosovo status" after the deadlock in the Vienna talks.

He argued the blueprint solution on the table is a "realistic compromise" which represents "the framework for a future stable, democratic, and multiethnic Kosovo."

"A lasting solution to the issue of Kosovo's status is needed, and needed without delay. The resolution of the status issue will have to be based on a clear European perspective in order to improve the stability on Kosovo and in the neighbouring region," he added.

A Russian foreign ministry spokesman said on Sunday (11 March) that Russia would seek a compromise that would be acceptable also for Serbs, adding "A forced decision will not last," according to Russia's daily online Kommersant.

But the daily claims that Russian diplomats privately admit Moscow would abstain from the vote on Kosovo rather than veto it, suggesting "Serbia has already lost Kosovo and won't get it back. Abstaining from the vote, Moscow can save face."