ZAGREB: The mostly ethnic Albanian province of Kosovo could be granted independence from Serbia by the end of the month, US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said here Friday.

“We will be circulating today with our European allies a resolution in the Security Council that we believe will lead to the independence of Kosovo by the end of this month,” Burns told journalists in the Croatian capital Zagreb.

“The United States is strongly supporting the independence of Kosovo.” The UN Security Council is set to begin debating soon two competing texts -- one Western and one Russian opposed to independence-- that will form the basis of a draft resolution on Kosovo's future status. Burns, speaking after meeting with Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, also warned against Serbian ultra-nationalists entering a new government.

“As Kosovo becomes independent, we Americans want to remain friends with Serbia and we want to have a good relationship with Serbia hopefully without the presence of the Radical party in the Serbian government,” he stressed.—AFP