Russia making all efforts to conclude new START treaty by Dec.

MOSCOW, October 19 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia is making all efforts to
conclude a new START treaty with the United States by December instead of
the expiring previous START treaty, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said
in an interview with the Serbian newspaper Vecernje Novosti on Sunday.

"The negotiations are underway in Geneva to draft a new, legally
binding Russian-U.S. treaty on the reduction and limitation of strategic
offensive weapons that is to fix such level (of the reduction of offensive
weapons)," he recalled. "We are making all efforts to sign a corresponding
document by December," Medvedev said.
"We also consider it necessary today to keep the balance of forces
with the U.S.," the president noted. "For our part, we orient at
preserving the nuclear weapons at the level that will be minimally
necessary for ensuring national security of Russia and our allies," he
added.
"We reiterated that we are ready to reduce more than thrice the number
of carriers of strategic offensive weapons," the Russian president
reaffirmed.
"When we are speaking about nuclear weapons, we proceed from the fact
that nuclear weapons cannot be used in practice and do not forget that
their existence had been serving as a guarantee for maintaining strategic
stability and security in the world for many decades," Medvedev recalled.

.No one can affirm Kosovo problem solved without Serbia's last say.

MOSCOW, October 19 (Itar-Tass) -- Serbia has the last say in the
solution to the Kosovo problem, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in
an interview with the Serbian newspaper Vecernje Novosti on Sunday.
"Despite all efforts made by the supporters of Kosovo's independence
to take it as an irreversible process, this issue cannot be closed,"
Medvedev believes. "We believe that it is necessary to prove step-by-step
that there is an alternative to legal arbitrariness all the same," the
president said.
"No one can affirm that the Kosovo problem is solved without Serbia's
last say," Medvedev remarked.
"Russia is participating in the settlement under the formula
coordinated long ago with Serbian colleagues: the initiative lies with
Belgrade, and we support consistently it," the Russian president recalled.
"Such approach in view of a quite difficult nature of the problem proves
to be effective," he believes.
"Many tragic mistakes have been made for the last decade that became
crucial in the history of the Kosovo problem settlement," Medvedev
regretted. "Some of them were made consciously, as a part of the plan to
introduce unilateral decisions in the international practice," he pointed
out.

.Medvedev to discuss several large-scale joint projects in Serbia.

MOSCOW, October 19 (Itar-Tass) -- During a visit to Serbia on October
20 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev intends to discuss several
large-scale joint projects, including those in the energy sector. Medvedev
has made a statement in an interview with the Serbian newspaper Vecernje
Novosti on Sunday.
"During forthcoming contacts we hope to discuss in detail the plans to
implement large-scale joint projects, including those in the energy
industry, transport, cultural and humanitarian and scientific-technical
cooperation," he said. "In other words, a serious work is in store for us
in order not only to strengthen the foundations of our cooperation by
joint efforts, but also to promote a more comprehensive realization of its
rich potential in the future," the Russian leader added.
"A forthcoming visit in Belgrade is really very important for me,"
Medvedev acknowledged. "I hope for further development of interstate
cooperation and stronger fraternal relations between the peoples," he said.
Medvedev recalled that his Serbian visit would be the first visit of
the Russian president in Serbia, after the country had returned on the
international scene as an independent and sovereign country. "Meanwhile,
we do not build our relations from scratch; we already have a very rich
experience of cooperation that is based on centuries-old traditions and
mutually pragmatic interests," the president pointed out.
The president emphasized that the visit was timed to coincide with the
65th anniversary of the liberation of the Serbian capital from the Nazi
invaders. "This event is of great significance, as it is charged with
common historical memory and common pride for the valour of our fathers
and grandfathers, who conquered the fascism," Medvedev underlined.
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