POTSDAM, May 30 (RIA Novosti) - The decision on Kosovo's status should be made through direct negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina, Russia's foreign minister said Wednesday.
"The fate of Kosovo and Serbia as a whole should be decided not in New York, not even at Potsdam, but only via direct negotiations," Sergei Lavrov said.
Foreign ministers of the G8 leading industrialized nations will hold an informal meeting at Postdam later Wednesday. The main subjects on the agenda are Iran's nuclear issue, the situation in Kosovo, the Middle East, Sudan, and Afghanistan.
Lavrov said negotiations on Kosovo's status have not produced any results yet.
"This is not the first case where a conflict has been discussed for years. The sides should be encouraged to continue negotiations," he said.
Russia said last Monday it is unhappy with some UN Security Council members' plans to approve proposals put forward by a UN envoy for Kosovo.
A draft UN Security Council resolution on Kosovo calling for the independence of Yugoslavia's breakaway province was submitted by France, the U.K., Germany and the United States and is based on a plan proposed by UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari, which would eventually grant Kosovo the independence sought by its Albanian majority.
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 Muslim Albanian separatists in 1999.
While the Albanians have since demanded full independence, the sizeable Orthodox Serb minority has complained that their lives and holy places will be at risk under the proposed plan.
Russia has repeatedly stated it will only support a deal respecting the interests of all parties concerned.
Serbia is strongly opposed to independence for the province, but the United States and European Union have expressed support for its sovereignty.
