Talks on Kosovo's future resume in Vienna

VIENNA, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- International envoys had separate talks with Serbian officials and leaders of Kosovo’s ethnic-Albanians in Austria Thursday, Serbian media said.

German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger, of the European Union, told reporters in Vienna the officials of the Serbian government and of Serbia’s predominantly ethnic-Albanian Kosovo province informed the international envoys about their proposals to resolve Kosovo’s future, the Serbian B92 radio reported.

The envoys included Frank Wisner, U.S. envoy in the Kosovo talks, and Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko of Russia.

Ischinger said a direct dialog between officials from Belgrade and the Kosovo capital of Pristina should start as soon as possible.

He said the diplomats have a mandate to submit a report on the Kosovo talks to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon by Dec. 10.

The envoys were asked to make an effort to reach a compromise in the talks after Russia threatened a Security Council veto of a U.N. plan that would give Kosovo independence from Serbia.

The ethnic-Albanian leaders insist on Kosovo independent of Belgrade, while the Serbian government says Kosovo will remain part of Serbia.