BRUSSELS, June 11 (RIA Novosti) - NATO defense ministers have agreed to cut the alliance's peacekeeping contingent in Kosovo to 10,000 troops, NATO chief said on Thursday.

Some 14,000 NATO troops are presently deployed in Kosovo, which on February 17 celebrated the first anniversary of its unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia. The NATO military contingent in Kosovo (KFOR) has been deployed under UN Security Council Resolution 1244 since 1999.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the reduction would be conducted "in a gradual and phased manner, and each step will be decided by the North Atlantic Council based on military advice."

He said the alliance had yet to agree a date for the cut, but added that it could be by January 1, 2010.

Reuters earlier cited a senior U.S. official as saying the plan by NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe John Craddock "envisaged further cuts to 6,500 and 2,500 if security conditions in Kosovo allow."

Kosovo has been recognized by 60 of the 192 UN member states, including the United States and most major European countries. Russia and China are among the countries that continue to consider Kosovo a province of Serbia.