( RIA Novosti ) - The six-nation Contact Group mediating the future status of Serbia's Albanian-dominated province of Kosovo will gather in London Thursday, the British Foreign Office said Tuesday.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said it will be the first opportunity for the Kosovo Contact Group's troika to convene. Established July 25 to mediate during new Kosovo talks between Belgrade and Pristina, the troika comprises Russia, the EU, and the United States as part of the Contact Group for Kosovo, which also involves France, Italy and Germany.
It will be an expert-level discussion on further steps to determine the final status of the region, and no press statements are expected to be made, the Foreign Office said.
No compromise has been reached during internationally-mediated talks in Vienna as a UN plan to grant sovereignty to Kosovo, regardless of Serbia's objections, has been removed from the UN Security Council agenda under pressure from veto-wielding Russia, Serbia's long-standing ally.
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 conflict between Serb forces and Muslim Albanian separatists in 1999. The region has remained a UN protectorate ever since.