Serbia- Montenegro has been facing the challenges of extraditing war crimes suspects and resolving the Kosovo status, visiting US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said Belgrade Friday.

At a press conference at the US embassy in Belgrade, Burns said that the US government was very disappointed because the two most wanted war crimes suspects are still at large.

Former Bosnian Serb wartime leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic was indicted by The Hague international tribunal for war crimes committed 10 years ago. The two are widely believed to be hiding in Serbia-Montenegro.

These two men are standing in the way of Serbia-Montenegro's progress toward NATO, the European Union and the rest of the world, Burns said.

Serbia's government will be assessed and judged on the basis of its actions, Burns said, adding that Serbian officials assured him that Mladic and Karadzic will either surrender or will be arrested.

As regards the Serbian province of Kosovo, Burns said that negotiations on its final status will start soon and that the US intends to play an active part in the negotiating process and will appoint a special envoy to assist the UN.

Burns said that the US will take no sides in the negotiations, but is aware that the present status quo is untenable for the province, which has been under UN administration since June 1999.

Many options have been tabled, and the US hopes that the talks to be held by Kosovo Albanians and Serbs and the Serbian government will be open and fair, Burns said, adding that neither side will have the right to veto in the negotiations.

Source: Xinhua