The Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, reaffirmed on Thursday a call for further talks between Serbia and its breakaway province Kosovo.

Speaking to reporters after attending Security Council consultations on Kosovo, Churkin stressed the need for the implementation of UN resolution 1244, adopted in 1999, and relevant standards on Kosovo.

He said he heard no one at the meeting asserting that the resolution and standards have been fully implemented.

"Clearly ... there is a long way to go in the implementation of standards for Kosovo," he said.

During the meeting, the 15-member council reviewed a report on council members' recent fact-finding mission to Belgrade and Pristina to assess the situation on the ground.

The report said the overall security situation in Kosovo remains calm but tense.

While the Kosovo Albanian community is confident about the future, the Kosovo Serb community is more apprehensive, it said.

The report noted that Kosovo Albanian and Kosovo Serb communities remain divided and live to a large extent separately from each other. In that regard, the process of full reconciliation and effective integration will require a long-term commitment by all stakeholders.

Churkin said in a situation that the standards have not been implemented, it is not possible to consider a solution, especially one on which there is no acceptance by the two sides.

He said the mission only reinforced Russia's position for the need for further negotiations between the parties and he felt "quite encouraged" that some council members have voiced similar ideas.

Panama, for example, proposed a six-month period which should be given to the parties to continue their talks, the Russian envoy said.

On the different elements for a possible draft resolution, which have been put forward by both Russia and the United States and its European allies, Churkin said there are points which "clearly cannot be reconciled."

"We have a difficult problem before us. We believe this problem requires further negotiations," he added.

The return of Kosovo's displaced Serbs should be a "priority" to be considered by the international community and the authority in Kosovo, he said. "More work needs to be done."

In their proposed elements, the United States and its European allies advocate UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari's plan to grant independence to Kosovo in a phased process, with initial supervision by the international community.

A Russian text, however, calls for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1244 and continuing negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina.

Kosovo has been run by the UN and the NATO since 1999. Ethnic Albanians, who make up of 90 percent of the province's 2 million population, are demanding independence, while Serbia and the Serbsin Kosovo want it to remain inside Serbia.