RICE PRESSES FOR ACTION ON KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE
By Sue Pleming, Lisbon, Reuters
China Post, Taiwan
July 20 2007
Kosovo will get independence from Serbia "one way or another" despite
Russia’s objections at the United Nations, U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday.
The United States is increasingly frustrated with Moscow’s refusal to
agree on a U.N. resolution that would lead to Kosovo’s independence
from Russian ally Serbia, leading to suggestions it will explore
taking action outside the 15-member Security Council.
Rice told reporters travelling with her to Lisbon for a meeting of
the quartet of Middle East mediators that U.S. President George W.
Bush had made it very clear that Kosovo should have its independence
from Serbia.
"The United States is absolutely committed to that," said Rice,
who will see Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Lisbon at the
meeting of the quartet, which comprises the United States, Russia,
the European Union and the United Nations.
Asked whether the United States was prepared to move on Kosovo’s
path to independence outside the United Nations, Rice said: "We are
committed to an independent Kosovo and we will get there one way
or another."
Moscow rejects any move that would lead to Kosovo’s independence and
has said a draft European/U.S. text has "zero" chance of being adopted.
The head of the Russian Duma, Boris Gryzlov, said in Montenegro that
Russia would use its veto right against any U.N. resolution not backed
by both Belgrade and Pristina.
"Adopting such a resolution will light the fuse on many spots around
the world: Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova,
Spain, Great Britain and some African states," Gryzlov said.