NEW YORK, September 27 (RIA Novosti) - Direct talks to be held Friday between Serbian and Kosovo Albanian leaders on the status of Kosovo will provide a last chance to reach a compromise on the issue, Serbia's prime minister said.
The negotiations will be held on the sidelines of the ongoing UN General Assembly session in New York, and will be mediated by the United States, Russia, and the European Union.
"I repeat once again that this may be the last chance for all negotiating parties to declare their commitment to a compromise, instead of unilateral independence for Kosovo," Vojislav Kostunica told journalists after a meeting with Russia's foreign minister in New York.
Kostunica said Belgrade has offered a broad degree of autonomy to the province, its historic heartland, but that Kosovo Albanians have rejected the proposal and insisted on full sovereignty.
Friday's talks will be the first direct discussions between Belgrade and Pristina on Kosovo's status. The province, now 90% populated by ethnic Albanians, has been a UN protectorate since NATO's 1999 bombing campaign that ended a conflict between Serb troops and Albanian separatists.
The UN has set December 10, 2007 as a deadline for the negotiations. The United States has made it clear that it will recognize Kosovo's independence after this date if no agreement is reached.
Russia, a veto-wielding Security Council member and a staunch ally of Belgrade, has repeatedly said that granting Kosovo sovereignty would violate Serbia's territorial integrity and set a precedent for other breakaway regions, including those of the former Soviet Union.
