Serbian president Boris Tadic to arrive in Russia on three-day working visit

Serbian President Boris Tadic was scheduled to arrive in Russia Sunday for talks on bilateral relations, as well as the prickly issue of the future of Kosovo.

During the three-day working visit, Tadic was to meet with top Russian officials, as well as the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Negotiations over the enclave's status are to start later this month under the direction of a U.N. mediator. The United Nations has administered Kosovo since the 1999 NATO air war that halted ex-President Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists there.

Negotiations over the enclave's status are to start later this month under the direction of a U.N. mediator.

Belgrade, which has historical Slavic ties with Moscow, is hoping Russia might help keep Kosovo within Serbia-Montenegro. The province's ethnic Albanians, however, want full independence, reported AP. P.T.