Envoys of Russia, the United States and the European Union met Serb leaders on Friday to launch a last-ditch bid for compromise on the breakaway province of Kosovo and its Albanian majority's demand for independence.
The diplomatic "troika" had an introductory meeting with Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and President Boris Tadic, political rivals who have closed ranks expressly to present a solid front rejecting independence.
"We have had a good first session here today. The troika had its first business meeting. We had the opportunity to explain in detail the purpose, the scope and the mandate of our mission," said the EU's Wolfgang Ischinger, a German ambassador.
"We are going to proceed with more discussions later today. This is the beginning of a process that will lead us into December," he said, referring to the December 10 deadline for a report to the United Nations. The Serb leaders issued a statement saying the talks "pave the way for reaching a compromise solution".
However, they repeated that any such solution must respect Serbian sovereignty and said "any threat of violence from Kosovo Albanians is completely unacceptable". There has been no threat of violence from Kosovo leaders.
The troika took on the Kosovo mission last month after a Western-backed resolution for independence - derived from 13 months of fruitless talks - was blocked at the United Nations by Russia, acting on behalf of its ally, Serbia.
Kosovo has been run by the United Nations for the past eight years, since the Western allies launched military intervention in 1999 to rescue two million ethnic Albanians from ethnic cleansing by Serb forces under the late Slobodan Milosevic.
Serious talks on its future status began only in early 2006 when the West decided it could not baby-sit the province for ever. Washington wanted a resolution last year, but now it looks likely there may still be no deal by the end of 2007.
The prospects of the troika succeeding where UN diplomacy failed look slim. Russian President Vladimir Putin is dug in on one side, US President George W. Bush has come down clearly on the other and the 27-member EU is straddling the gap between.
On top of these contradictions in the mediation team, there is no glimmer of give from Serbs or Albanians on the bottom line - Kosovo's independence. The Serbs offer full autonomy within Serbia, but no role in Serb society or national affairs. The Albanians want no link to Belgrade at all in their future.
The troika was due to fly south by helicopter on Saturday to Nato headquarters in Kosovo for talks with Albanian leaders. "We will tell the troika this is the last delay for Kosovo's status and even this delay was unnecessary," Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku said. "Right after these 120 days of talks the decision to recognise Kosovo's independence should be taken," he told reporters in the capital, Pristina.
EU envoy Ischinger, speaking in London on Thursday after the first meeting of the troika, said the Western-backed plan by UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari, which Kosovo accepts but Serbia insists it has killed off, is still on the table.
Russia, however, insists it is a dead letter. The plan offers Kosovo's 90-percent Albanian majority independence under EU supervision, a role the whole EU is willing to undertake provided there is a UN mandate for it. If there is no UN mandate - and Russia holds the key to that - then EU unity could crack and a half dozen member states with misgivings about granting independence to separatists could refuse to recognise Kosovo. Nato powers leading 16,000 troops in Kosovo fear unrest if independence is blocked. Russia has no troops there.