The United States has pressed Russia to back a compromise UN resolution on Kosovo's independence while urging the Serbian province's ethnic Albanian leaders to be patient and accept more talks with Belgrade.
US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad said the Security Council must make a decision on Kosovo's final status within 10 days and urged Russia to cooperate.
The United States, Britain and France have thrice amended a draft resolution on UN plans to grant Kosovo supervised independence in a bid to secure Russian backing.
But Moscow, a close ally of Serbia, has threatened to veto the text, arguing that it would create a dangerous precedent for separatists in other countries.
"We will work with our colleagues to get a resolution presented this week. Within a week there has to be a decision," Khalilzad said after attending council consultations on developments in the Albanian-majority Serbian province.
Khalilzad said Washington was willing to allow time for further negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo Albanians before the UN-administered territory is granted supervised independence.
"But having agreed to that, I think the time has come for Russia to take a step in the right direction on this issue," he said.
In an interview with the Financial Times published overnight, Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku said the territory's ethnic Albanian leadership will not declare independence from Serbia this year without US and European Union backing.
Kosovo has been under UN stewardship since 1999, after a NATO bombing campaign helped drive out Serb forces who carried out a brutal crackdown on ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's population.
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