(Adds Tadic aides to meet Contact Group, writes through) By Douglas Hamilton BELGRADE, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Serbia was still hoping major powers would delay final talks on a United Nations plan for the eventual independence of its Kosovo province, despite a U.S. envoy's refusal to be drawn on its request on Tuesday. Belgrade wants the six-power Contact Group on Kosovo to postpone a final series of talks on Kosovo by 10 days to give it time to convene its newly elected parliament and appoint a negotiating team. The talks are due to start on Feb 13. Washington's Kosovo envoy Frank Wisner said he had "noted" the request, but declined direct comment. "These negotiations need to be brought to a close with as little delay as possible," he said, adding that settling the issue quickly would benefit Serbia as well as Kosovo and hasten their path to European integration. Serbia did not take Wisner's response for a 'No'. Serbian President Boris Tadic said after meeting Wisner that his aides would meet on Friday with ambassadors of the six Contact Group countries -- the United States, Russia, France, Britain, Germany and Italy -- to discuss the request. The Contact Group already postponed Ahtisaari's plan once last November in order to avoid inflaming nationalist passions in the Serbian general election on Jan 21. U.N. Kosovo mediator Martti Ahtisaari last Friday unveiled a plan which sets Kosovo, whose population is 90 percent ethnic Albanian, on the path to independence. It has been nearly eight years since NATO wrested control of the province from Serbia to halt slaughter and ethnic cleansing in a counter-guerrilla war. Serbia opposes independence, offering the Kosovo Albanians "substantial autonomy", which they reject. EU COMES TO TOWN In Kosovo, ethnic Albanian Prime Minister Agim Ceku said there was "no need for another delay". "Ahtisaari has given us the agenda of the meetings. All the consultations with him end on March 2. This is definite. "They (Serbs) have the opportunity to come to Vienna...if they want to use this opportunity. If not, that's their problem..." Ceku said the plan, which grants Kosovo attributes and powers akin to statehood but under international supervision, would go the U.N. Security Council by mid-March. In a diplomatic push to persuade Serbia to respond "constructively" to the proposals, as Ahitsaari and Western capitals put it, a European Union 'troika' of senior ministers was due to visit on Wednesday. EU Foreign policy chief Javier Solana, EU Enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany, which currently holds the EU presidency, were expected in Belgrade, along with Portugal's Manuel Lobo Antunes, whose country takes over the EU at mid-year. In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair told a parliamentary committee Kosovo was headed in the direction of "a greater degree of independence (but) I would prefer not to commit myself" on its final status before more talks are held. The Contact Group has shared responsibility for Kosovo since 1999. Russia has said it does not want to see a settlement imposed on Serbia, but has also urged Belgrade to be "constructive" in responding to Ahtisaari's proposal. Blair said the West must balance the demands of Kosovo's Albanian majority "with not alienating Serbia". (Reporting by Beti Bilandzic in Belgrade, Katherine Baldwin in London and Fatos Bytyci in Pristina)
