The seventh round of talks on the future status of Kosovo ended in Vienna Wednesday with ethnic Albanian and Serbian officials failing to reach any consensus.

Although the two delegations narrowed their differences, they failed to clinch a deal, said Bernhard Schlageck, a UN-appointed mediator at the talks.

Main topics in this round included the autonomy of the ethnic Albanian regions, and the establishment of special protection zones around the Serb heritage sites and the Serbian communities.

According to the report of Austria Press Agency, the two sides planned to hold UN-sponsored top-level political talks on July 24, which would be the first of its kind on the future status of Kosovo between the former warring sides.

In the meantime, Serbian President Boris Tadic announced Wednesday that he would meet with ethnic Albanian leaders of Kosovo province.

"It will bring troubles to the stability in Balkan and other regions if Kosovo becomes an independent state," Tadic said in Brussels on Tuesday after meeting with European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso.

The UN-mediated negotiations on the future status of Kosovo started last November. But thorny problems have not been addressed after seven rounds of talks.

(Xinhua News Agency July 20, 2006)

?