"There is no deadline for the transfer of the four generals, but Serbia-Montenegro must improve cooperation with the tribunal if it wants to avoid international pressure," Rasim Ljajic was quoted by the Blic daily as saying on Monday.
Ljajic's statement came a day after Nebojsa Covic, the chairman of the co-ordinating body for Kosovo, told the media that "the deadline for the extradition of the four generals to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is October 1, but nobody wants to say it openly".
US Ambassador to Belgrade Michael Polt gave an interview with the local paper 'Politika', warning that Serbia-Montenegro was expected to fulfil its international obligations.
Polt refused speculation that there was an agreement between Belgrade and Washington on enabling the four generals to be put on trial before a court in Serbia if General Ratko Mladic, the war-time commander of Bosnian Serbs, be handed over to the tribunal.
Asked about the deadline for Mladic's apprehension and extradition, the ambassador said it was "yesterday" implying that this general, accused of genocide in Bosnia, must be immediately arrested and handed over.