Russia Rejects United Nations Kosovo Draft Resolution
Russia has declined to accept a draft resolution put forth by the United States and Europe on Kosovo that would remove the United Nations peacekeeping force and replace it with a European based one. The West is unsure now on how to move forward towards the eventual independence of Kosovo. They could call for a vote that would be vetoed by Moscow or they could decide to move ahead to make the country independent by means outside the jurisdiction of the Security Council.
Moscow is opposed to the independence of the region of which the majority of the population is Albanian. The UN has been running the area since 1999 after chasing off the Serbian troops that had been attacking and killing Albanians. Russia is an ally of Serbia and does not want to lose influence in the region.
UN officials are concerned that Kosovo will take action on its own to declare independence even at the risk of losing European assistance. The resolution calls for four months of negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina without triggering Kosovo independence at the end of the 120 days but putting a European force in to maintain control in the region without offering Kosovo any memberships in international organizations.
