They don't care

Important revelations from Leon Kojen, the brains behind the Serb negotiating team. It looks like Serbs are committed not to negotiate to the end, no matter how much Putin asks for second chances. Not only Kojen hopes that western powers will not get their way, and that Serbia should stick to its guns, but that this stance will actaully result in a compromise in the Security Council favorable to Sebia.

[Kojen] was not particularly concerned with the exact content of Martti Ahtisaari’s finalized proposal, given that Russia and China are opposed to the position of western powers, and to the position of the US in particular.“

It’s very important that Serbia cling to its established position and wait for world powers to convene in New York. We believe that a favorable compromise amongst UN Security Council members is bound to be reached”, Kojen stressed.

B92 - News - Politics - "Resolution depends on China and Russia"

In the mean time in public US is staying quiet and at least not being pessimistic about the outlook. It may be that the hard talks haven't started yet, or it may be that US has something up its sleeve. I wouldn't be surprised if Kosovo is part of a wider deal between the West and Russia, in which case Kosovo would be only a tiny chip.

From what I have read in the media in the last two months, Russia is still being coy with conflicting messages that in no way read clear rejection of the plan. Remember that grandstanding of the bear is how Russians approach diplomacy, and this behavior is very similar to 1999 with Chernomyrdyn and Ivanov. To me Russian messages read as RFPs. Let's hope US has thought this well and will respond.

technorati tags:kosovo, kosova, negotiations, positions