Originally submitted May 11, the Kosovo draft resolution based on the plan by UN envoy Marti Ahtisaari to grant the Albanian-dominated region independence is backed by the United States and the European Union, but has met strong opposition from Serbia and Russia.
The UN Security Council is set to hold consultations, including on a new draft resolution on Kosovo, Alejandro Wolff said without specifying what concessions were made by the authors of the earlier draft.
Speaking at a news conference following a foreign ministerial meeting of the Group of Eight countries in Germany Wednesday, Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated that the solution should be based on a compromise between Kosovo and Belgrade and urged compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244.
Adopted in 1999, Resolution 1244 determined to resolve the grave humanitarian situation in Kosovo and to provide for the safe and free return of all refugees and displaced persons to their homes, a requirement still far from being fulfilled.
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 would be at risk under the proposed setup.
Russia is a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council, but Lavrov said he did not expect a veto would be necessary for the UN Security Council resolution on Kosovo.
