Russia not ruling out UN veto on Kosovo plan

UNITED NATIONS, May 10 (Reuters) Russia today refused to rule out a veto on a UN plan for Kosovo to become independent from Serbia, saying it needed to keep all options open on a proposal strongly opposed by its allies in Belgrade.

Speaking after a Security Council debate on Kosovo, Russia's UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, also spoke of irreconcilable differences between Western and Russian ideas for next steps on the mainly ethnic Albanian province.

But Churkin made no specific veto threat and despite his uncompromising tone, Western envoys suggested Russia was being more flexible in closed-door negotiations on a resolution to follow up the plan proposed by UN mediator Martti Ahtisaari.

US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said he believed that, absent a Russian veto, the council would approve the plan.

The United States and Europeans have drawn up elements for a resolution that would lead to independence for Kosovo, while a rival Russian text says conditions for minority Serbs are not yet in place and negotiations should continue.

Kosovo has been under UN administration since 1999, when NATO bombing drove out Serb forces who had killed 10,000 Albanian civilians in a two-year war with guerrillas.

The key measure in the US-European text is an endorsement of recommendations by Ahtisaari that would give virtual independence to Kosovo under European Union auspices.

''There are some points in those elements which clearly cannot be reconciled,'' Churkin said, referring to the two skeleton drafts.

Asked whether Russia was considering a veto, he said: ''This is certainly a threshold situation in terms of international law ... so ... it does require the need to use all options available in case strong views need to be protected.'' Churkin's statement was the latest from Russia to dangle the threat of a veto without any firm commitment to use it, a tactic Russian officials have hinted could strengthen their hand in the talks over a resolution.

BACKING FOR PLAN Following today's debate in the Security Council, which heard a report by Belgian Ambassador Johan Verbeke on a council trip to Kosovo last month, Khalilzad said he judged that a majority of members supported Ahtisaari's plan.

''I believe the votes are there for supporting the Ahtisaari plan, assuming there is no Russian veto,'' he told reporters. To pass, a resolution needs nine out of 15 votes and no veto by the United States, Russia, Britain, France or China.

In the debate, apart from Russia, China also called for continued negotiations, while Western envoys said it was time to go ahead with the UN plan. Panama proposed a compromise of adopting the plan after a six-month delay for further talks.

Western countries say the negotiations have proven that the Serbs and Albanians cannot agree and it is pointless to pursue them.

Belgium's Verbeke told reporters negotiations on a resolution would proceed next week after consultations with capitals and said their conclusion was ''a question of days and weeks, not weeks and months''.

US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns said in Berlin yesterday Washington hoped for a vote this month.

Western diplomats say that while they are not ruling out a Russian veto, they are hoping for either agreement with Moscow on an adjusted version of the Ahtisaari plan or a Russian abstention.

Reuters JK SBA VP0220