After the second round of Belgrade – Pristina talks at the White House, Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic said the recognition of Kosovo would not be on the agenda of the next meetings anymore after he rejected a point on the paper offered to the two delegations by their American hosts.
“Serbia should not be afraid about the recognition of Kosovo. It won't happen. Full stop,” Vucic told reporters after the session.
On the other hand, the head of the Albanian delegation, Prime Minister Abdulah Hoti told Klan Kosova TV that “we won't talk about other issues except for the recognition.”
He later said that “agreements which are unacceptable for Kosovo have never come nor will come out of the White House. We have made a big improvement in economic cooperation, and we are a step closer to end this issue. Everything we talk about with Serbia relates to recognition. The question of (the borders) has not been mentioned neither would it be ever.”
However, Vucic said that “the American side was fair, they listen to us, and I think that point will not be in further documents,” Vucic said, adding the first document was titled ‘Economic Normalisation.’
He added the talks would go on “tonight and in the morning.”
“We'll see if we can reach a deal. We have come here in good faith, and we still hope for it,” Vucic said.
He added there was some progress in the talks facilitated by US President Donald Trump's envoy Richard Grenell and National Advisor Robert O'Brien regarding the economic topics. Still, he added it should wait for the outcome.
Vucic said Grenell and O'Brien were surprised, “I wouldn't say speechless,” with what he said about the part of the paper demanding mutual recognition between Serbia and Kosovo.
O'Brien tweeted the talks were very good, and progress was made.
“Very good round of discussions this afternoon with the leaders of #Serbia and #Kosovo. They made real progress today. Thanks to @DFCgov, @MCCgov, and @EximBankUS for joining. #EconomicNormalization means jobs for young people. Talks continue tomorrow!” – NSA Robert O’Brien pic.twitter.com/7usHrh2w2N
— NSC (@WHNSC) September 3, 2020
Vucic confirmed that US President's daughter Ivanka Trump, was in the meeting, speaking about some business topic. He added she might visit Serbia.
Asked about the possible talks with Trump, Vucic said he didn't know if that would happen but that he would accept the invitation. He said he could even have a few minutes face-face meeting with the US President.
Earlier, Vucic said he would reject the meeting if there were some surprising topics on the agenda of the talks.
