MOSCOW, June 13 (RIA Novosti) - Russia condemned Wednesday the launch of talks on a settlement plan for Kosovo without Moscow's participation, and suggested that Western nations are attempting to "unilaterally" push through an independence plan for the region.
On June 12, Germany, Britain, Italy, France and the United States - members of the six-nation Contact Group for Kosovo - held a meeting in Paris on the future status of Serbia's predominantly Albanian province, to which Russia was not invited.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: "Given that such a format was chosen for the meeting, which took place yesterday without Russia's participation, this was an attempt to exclude Russia's position, which is that actions should be based on a single standard and on international law. All this will be on the conscience of those who attended the meeting."
Determining the status of the province has been on the international agenda since NATO's 78-day bombing campaign against the former Yugoslavia ended a war between Serb forces and Muslim Albanian separatists in 1999. The region has remained a UN protectorate ever since.
At last week's G8 summit in Germany, world leaders attempted to thrash out an agreement on the status of Kosovo. The United States and the European Union are pushing for the region's independence, while veto-wielding Russia, a staunch ally of Belgrade, has opposed any UN resolutions to that effect.
The Foreign Ministry's official spokesman, Mikhail Kamynin, said Moscow was aware that the parties had reiterated their support of a plan drafted by UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari foreseeing independence for the region, which is home to two million.
"This fact contradicts the partners' declarations that they are ready to continue looking for a compromise. Secret discussions lead us to suspect that a unilateral scenario for Kosovo's sovereignty is being prepared," Mikhail Kamynin said.
Ahtisaari's plan has been welcomed by the Albanian majority in Kosovo, but strongly opposed by the Serb minority, as well as Belgrade and Moscow.
Moscow has repeatedly said a solution must be based on a compromise between Belgrade and Pristina, and that the position of ethnic minorities in the region also be considered.
Improving the humanitarian situation in Kosovo, one of Europe's poorest regions, and providing for the safe and free re-housing of all refugees and displaced persons also figure in Moscow's demands.
Russia has also claimed that the principle of territorial integrity should be taken into account, and that if declared independent, Kosovo could set a precedent for determining the status of other breakaway regions, including in former Soviet republics.
