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NEW YORK - The United Nations Security Council failed to agree on a plan for Kosovo after it declared independence from Serbia yesterday, and Western countries said the European Union and Nato should take responsibility for the region's stability.
An emergency council meeting called by Russia was unable to heal differences between Serbia's ally Moscow, which says the independence declaration is illegal, and Western states that maintain it is the only viable option after talks failed.
A statement issued after the meeting by seven Western nations left little doubt that they would recognise majority ethnic-Albanian Kosovo but stopped short of saying so outright. A lead is expected from the EU, whose foreign ministers were to meet today.
"We regret that the Security Council cannot agree on the way forward, but this impasse has been clear for many months," said Belgian ambassador Johan Verbeke.
"Today's events ... represent the conclusion of a status process that has exhausted all avenues in pursuit of a negotiated outcome," he said in a statement agreed by Belgium, France, Italy, Britain, Croatia, Germany and the United States. It was also backed by current EU president Slovenia.
The EU will be taking over police and justice functions from UN staff, though a UN mission will remain in Kosovo.
Council president Ambassador Ricardo Alberto Arias of Panama confirmed to journalists that the differences between the West and Russia "remain basically the same".
The Western statement said the status quo in Kosovo "had become unsustainable and a co-ordinated and stable process, with international support is better than prolonged instability." It said a 1999 UN resolution provided the framework for transition to "a sustainable new status" for Kosovo - a position contested by Russia, which says the resolution requires the UN to nullify an independence declaration.
"It is not obvious at all what could possibly be the legal basis for even considering the recognition of this unilateral declaration of independence," Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters.
"Our position is that this declaration should be disregarded by the international community and should be declared null and void by the head of Unmik" - the UN mission in Kosovo which has run the province for nine years.
