UNITED NATIONS, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Mediators on the future of Serbia's Kosovo province said in a report made available on Friday four months of talks had failed to reach a deal because neither side would yield on the key question of sovereignty.
The report, handed to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday, made no recommendations on a way forward, leaving it to a divided international community to work out next steps.
With no deal agreed, the ethnic Albanian majority in breakaway Kosovo is widely expected to declare independence early next year, a move key Western countries are likely to accept.
But that is vigorously opposed by Serbia and by its ally Russia, which holds a veto in the Security Council. The council will discuss the mediators' report on Dec. 19.
In their report, made available to Reuters by diplomats, the so-called "troika" of mediators from the United States, Russia and the European Union said the talks had been useful. Both the Kosovo Albanians and Serbia's government had pledged to refrain from violence, threats or intimidation, it said.
"Both parties must be reminded that their failure to live up to these commitments will affect the achievement of the European future that they both seek," it said.
(Reporting by Patrick Worsnip; Editing by Eric Beech)
