MOSCOW. March 17 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the idea of Kosovo cantonization, which Western countries have sometimes mentioned, has no prospects.
"This idea is not new. It did not come about by choice but when the Serbs were actually expelled from Kosovo. I do not think it will produce practical results in the foreseeable future," Lavrov said at a news conference in Moscow on Wednesday.
The international community recently "coordinated standards for Kosovo and a plan for their enforcement which presents tough requirements to be met by the Albanian leaders in Kosovo to ensure equality between all ethnic groups in that province," he said.
The contact group for Kosovo will hold a meeting in May to consider the implementation of these demands by the Kosovo Albanians, he said.
Lavrov assumed that the future of Kosovo could be discussed only "when all these standards are fully met, which is far from being the case now."