Russia proposed last week sending an international mission to the region as a way of forging a compromise between the Albanian majority and ethnic Serbian minority in the troubled province. The proposal was put forward as an alternative to a plan by UN Special Envoy Marti Ahtisaari to grant Kosovo internationally supervised sovereignty.
"We have demonstrated that Ahtisaari's proposals on Kosovo presuppose illegal actions - namely, depriving the country [Serbia] of 15% of its territory," Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said, adding that the plan contradicted the UN Charter and had therefore failed to secure any substantial support at the UN.
Only four of the 15 members on the UN Security Council voted Tuesday in favor of Ahtisaari's plan during the first round of consultations on the issue.
Kosovar President Fatmir Sejdiu, conversely, said Wednesday that Ahtisaari's plan was receiving increasing support. He also said the UN Security Council remained convinced that Kosovo's independence was unlikely to set a precedent for other countries.
Russia, which wields a veto power on the council and has been a traditional Serbian ally, has opposed the proposals, pushing instead for negotiations and a decision that would satisfy both Kosovar and Serbian authorities. Moscow has also expressed its concern that Kosovo's independence could set a precedent for other breakaway republics, including in the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Moldova.
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.
