Russia, an ally of Serbia, proposed sending UN observers to the area as an alternative to a plan by UN special envoy for Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari, which advocated internationally supervised sovereignty for the province dominated by ethnic Albanians.
The UN delegation, led by Johan C. Verbeke, Belgium's permanent representative to the UN, will meet Thursday with the Serbian president and prime minister, parliamentarians, members of the Serbian government's Coordination Centre for Kosovo, and representatives of Kosovo refugees.
The mission will move on to Pristina, Kosovo, where the UN experts will meet with senior officials of the province Thursday and then travel to Vienna to meet with Ahtisaari.
As a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council, Russia has shared Serbia's opposition to Ahtisaari's plan, saying it would set a dangerous precedent for other self-proclaimed republics all over the world.
Kosovo's Prime Minister Agim Ceku said Tuesday Russia's refusal to back the plan challenged the entire international community, including the United States and Britain.
"Kosovo Albanians are not alone in this process, and Russia's 'No' to Ahtisaari's proposals is not only addressed to Kosovo but the international community as a whole," Ceku told Western reporters in Pristina after Russia threatened to veto the UN Kosovo plan in the UN Security Council.
Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov said Tuesday in Moscow that "the veto threat is designed to encourage a search for other options." He also dismissed Western concerns that violence would be inevitable if Kosovo failed to secure independence.
Kosovo, which has a population of two million, has been a UN protectorate since NATO's 78-day bombing campaign against the former Yugoslavia ended a war between Serb forces and Albanian separatists in 1999.
