U.N. stymied on Serbia-Kosovo issue

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- The U.N. Security Council has no solution to offer for the sovereignty dispute between Serbia and the independence-seeking province of Kosovo, members said.

After a meeting at U.N. headquarters Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said there were "irreconcilable differences" between the Serbs and Kosovars, The New York Times reported.

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and President Fatmir Sejdiu spoke at the session, leading British Ambassador John Sawers to observe "just how enormous the gulf is between the two parties."

Leaders of Kosovo's 1.8 million ethnic Albanians -- 90 percent of the population -- have said they will declare their independence only in coordination with the United States and Europe.

Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema, who presided over Wednesday's session as Security Council president, blamed Russia and the United States for pushing the two sides farther apart.