Speaking to reporters after meeting Serbian President Boris Tadic and PM Vojislav Kostunica, Fried said that he informed his hosts about his country's position regarding the settlement of the Kosovo issue. He added that there would be combined talks, but he could not give more details.
The position of the United States is clear, and that is that Kosovo will be independent, he said.
Speaking to reporters at the US Embassy in Belgrade, Fried said he believed that the USA and Serbia would be friends, as they had been so far, and that they would remain friends after the Kosovo issue was settled.
By the end of this week, the USA will start preparations in the Security Council for a final draft resolution on Kosovo, which will not be the final proposal by the USA but a way to help speed up talks between the parties concerned, the US official said.
He went on to say that Serbia's future lies in Europe and that Serbia should therefore be interested in solving the issue of Kosovo.
President Tadic's office, however, issued a statement saying that Serbia opposes Kosovo's independence. "Serbia opposes the unilateral recognition of Kosovo's status, and it would be very harmful to recognise Kosovo's independence bypassing the UN Security Council's decision," the statement said.
PM Kostunica also issued a statement, saying that the "notion of independence for the province is the most dangerous project in Europe today, because it is destructive and violates the principles of international order".