Russia digs in heels against West's Kosovo plan

UNITED NATIONS, June 23 (Reuters) Russia refused to budge on its opposition to a new Western-backed draft UN resolution paving the way for Kosovo independence as the Security Council discussed the document for the first time on Friday.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said his delegation would not even take part in an experts' meeting set for next Monday to refine the text of the draft, saying it would deal only with details, not with core issues.

As the battle over the fate of the Serbian province spread to trying to win over undecided members of the 15-nation council, Western envoys claimed majority support but Churkin yesterday said Russia had significant backing.

The draft, put to the council on Wednesday, calls for another 120 days of negotiations to try to break a deadlock between Serbia and leaders of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority, who are increasingly impatient for independence.

If those talks fail, the resolution would put into effect an independence plan drawn up by UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari ''unless the Security Council expressly decides otherwise.'' Russia, which has veto power on the council, opposes independence for Kosovo's 2 million people unless its allies in Belgrade agree.

''In the consultation of the Security Council today, this was the first thing I said, that we should have no illusions that the current draft text is ... bringing us closer to an acceptable outcome of this process,'' Churkin told reporters.

FACT OF LIFE He said Russia objected to the automatic application of the Ahtisaari plan if the fresh talks failed, which he said would give the Albanians, who have accepted the plan, no incentive to negotiate. Western envoys disagreed, saying they were open to any improvement on the plan the talks might yield.

A number of speakers in the council expressed views ''which were quite similar to the points we were making, so we do not feel alone'' Churkin said.

But British deputy ambassador Karen Pierce said: ''Most council members now want to engage on this text and most council members support it.'' The refusal of the Kosovo Albanians to negotiate anything short of independence was ''a fact of life,'' she said. ''We do not think it realistic or tenable for Belgrade to come with a proposal that does not accept that fact.'' Kosovo, seen by Serbia as a cradle of its culture, passed out of Belgrade's control in 1999 when NATO bombing drove out Serb forces engaged in a brutal war with guerrillas in which thousands of ethnic Albanian civilians had died. The province has been under UN administration for almost eight years.

US deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff said it was hard to predict when the divided council would vote on the resolution.

Some diplomats have suggested a deal could emerge from talks between US President George W Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin at their July 2 meeting in Kennebunkport, Maine.

REUTERS PDS BST0608