If the Kosovo people declares independence, yes, we will support it, Burns said in response to the question from Serbian Ambassador to the US Ivan Vujacic if Washington would recognise independent Kosovo.
Asked by a member of the press if that meant the US would unilaterally recognise Kosovo regardless of what happened with a resolution on Kosovo at the Security Council, Burns did not explicitly deny this but explained that Washington believed the resolution would be adopted.
The UN must first repeal the decision of 1999 when Resolution 1244 placed Kosovo under UN administration, Burns said, adding he expected the resolution introducing Kosovo's independence, in accordance with UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari's plan, to be adopted next month, after its draft was discussed in the coming weeks.
We expect the resolution to pass. The Russian veto that has been announced is unlikely. The US is very engaged in this issue. We are closely cooperating with Russia and I hope the final analysis will show that this is the best solution for progress, said Burns.
Washington envisages that the Security Council will adopt the resolution on Kosovo in May, after which the Kosovo assembly will declare independence and a larger number of states, headed by the US, will recognise Kosovo, Burns said, adding the US believed the final solution should be independence.
Asked about a link between the Badinter Commission's conclusion on the break-up of the former Yugoslavia and Kosovo's independence, Burns said the international community should apply an identical approach to the declaration of independence when it came to the break-up of Yugoslavia because Kosovo was part of that process too.
Burns reiterated the US fully supported Ahtisaari's plan which envisages independence for Kosovo under international supervision. He said this was a balanced proposal that offered a viable solution, with full protection for the Serb and other non-Albanian minorities as well as for the Serb cultural heritage in Kosovo.
Burns dismissed speculation that giving Kosovo independence was a Pandora's box or that it would set a precedent for the changing of borders in Southeast Europe, the Caucasus or some other regions.
Pandora's box is the argument of those who wish to undermine the definition of the final solution to Kosovo, said Burns.
He also said the US was resolutely against the division of Kosovo and that it was confident that NATO's 16,500 troops in the province, including 1,700 Americans, could maintain order in case of unrest following the decision on Kosovo's status.
Burns underlined that Serbia must choose between the past and the future and accept Ahtisaari's plan in order to ensure its own progress and Euro-Atlantic integration.
He said Serbia should look up to Slovenia, which he called miraculously successful, and to Croatians, who he said were building a democratic and successful country.
Burns also said that Serbia's return to the international community remained linked to the extradition of war crimes indictees Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic to the Hague tribunal. He added the US would not give up the demand that they be extradited and that Serbia would not join NATO until the two were tried.