The UN Security Council postponed until Friday a meeting on a disputed resolution over Kosovo's future that calls for further negotiations, according to dpa. But diplomats on Thursday said there was still no certainty that a vote would be taken on the draft resolution because of the real threat that Russia would veto the text, written by the United States, France, Britain and Italy. "There is still disagreement about the draft resolution and some members believe there is zero probability for its adoption," said British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry. Jones Parry and others said the draft would be one of the final pieces needed in the Balkan jigsaw-puzzle before the establishment of relations between the region and the European Union. Serbia, which maintains its claim of sovereignty over Kosovo, has said it would give the territory special autonomy, but not total independence. Serbia is also seeking to join the EU. Russia opposes the draft, arguing that it effectively sanctions a UN plan that foresees supervised independence for Kosovo - a plan fiercely opposed by both Russia and Serbia. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday said the US supported Kosovo gaining independence, regardless of the Security Council vote. "We're committed to an independent Kosovo and we will get there one way or another," Rice told reporters on board a flight to Portugal. Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya, the 15-nation council's president, said following consultations with members that the meeting will take place Friday. Diplomats said they want to avoid alienating Russia by forcing it to veto the draft if it is put to a vote. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Tuesday said the council would probably let the six- nation Contact Group involved in Kosovo take over. The group is composed of the US, Russia, Germany, Italy, France and Britain. The UN draft calls for a fresh 120-day round of talks between Kosovo Albanian and Serbian leaders, after which the council would again take up the issue if there was no deal. The draft also says an international civilian representative would be appointed immediately by the EU with the power and authority to administer Kosovo during that 120-day period, while NATO and the EU will continue to carry on their duties there. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin on Monday called the appointment of the international civilian representative a "secret trigger" for the UN blueprint for supervised independence worked out by former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari. Currently Kosovo is administered by a UN mission headed by a UN special envoy. That mission would be dismantled once the representative is named.
