Kosovo talks progress is 'slim'

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The prospect of progress in talks on Kosovo's future status is "increasingly slim", a UN mediator has said.

UN deputy envoy Albert Rohan said the prolonged talks between Serbs and ethnic Albanians "can go on for another 10 years and it won't change anything".

Serbia's province has been run by the UN since Nato forced Serb troops out of the province in 1999.

Ethnic Albanians are pressing for Kosovo's independence, while Belgrade says it should remain part of Serbia.

The UN-mediated talks between the Serbian and ethnic Albanian teams in Vienna have been going on for months. So far, no breakthrough has been achieved.

UN chief negotiator Martti Ahtisaari is under pressure from the Western powers to produce a deal by the end of the year, the BBC's South-east Europe analyst Gabriel Partos says.

The West believes that uncertainty over Kosovo's future could lead to its destabilisation, he says.

Earlier this year, the six-nation Contact Group made it clear that a deal should be in line with the wishes of Kosovo's people.

Since the 90% ethnic Albanian majority are insisting on independence, that has been seen as a possible pointer of the kind of settlement that may emerge from the diplomatic process, our analyst says.

He says the Western powers in the Contact Group have hinted at independence, albeit under close international supervision, as a likely solution.

Russia, on the other hand, has said it will not go along with a deal that is imposed on Serbia.