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EU and Russia Remain at Odds over Kosovo

26 10 2007  Brussels _ Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that the gap between his country  and the EU over Kosovo’s future has not been bridged.

“Kosovo is obviously a problem between the EU and Russia about how we would like it to turn out”, Putin said after attending an EU-Russia summit in Mafra, Portugal, international media organisation reported.

Even before the summit started, Putin already hinted that there would not be a common approach about Kosovo.

Ahead of the talks, he called for "patience" on Kosovo's future and urged his European colleagues to exercise restraint over the issue.

The EU has given its backing to Ahtisaari`s proposal for Kosovo, while Russia has insisted that it will go along with a settlement only if it is acceptable to Serbia which, in turn, has made it clear it wants Kosovo to remain part of its territory.

Putin stressed that Kosovo’s independence would only encourage separatists elsewhere.

However, the EU is calling for the status issue to be resolved soon.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, stressed that the current situation was not tolerable, therefore, he called on the parties to continue with their engagement towards a mutually-agreed solution.

“We continue to call on the parties to backtrack from their initial positions and to reach an agreed solution in the end.

“We hope it will be reached as soon as possible because both the EU and Russia understand the current situation is simply inadmissible”, Solana said.