WASHINGTON: Russia must accept the reality that “Serbia and Kosovo are never going to be one again” or risk instability there, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview published Wednesday.

“I hope that the Russians are as committed as we are to a stable outcome in the Balkans and to being constructive in the Balkans,” Rice said after talks on Kosovo in Brussels last week with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

“But the fact of the matter is Kosovo and Serbia are never going to be one again, and that’s the reality,” Rice was quoted as saying in USA Today.

“And if you don’t deal with that reality, you’re only going to sow the seeds of considerable discontent and considerable instability,” Rice said. The Albanian-majority Serb province of Kosovo is seeking independence while Russian-backed Serbia is willing to grant its southern province no more than autonomy.Rice endorsed a plan presented early this year by the UN special envoy for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, that calls for independence under international supervision for the province.

“Both Kosovo and Serbia need to get on with their futures, their separate but related futures. And the way to do that is for Serbia to have a strong European perspective,” Rice said — AFP