Tadic: Serbia ready for new initiatives leading to Kosovo compromise

He said this would be the case regardless of the stand of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stand on the issue of the legality of the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo's ethnic Albanians.

Tadic also underscored that the policy of peace "immunizes Serbia from attacks coming from international public".

According to him, "there is no doubt that things regarding Kosovo may change, either as a consequence of the economic crisis or as a result of the changes in relations on the international political scene".

"In that sense, it is of major importance that Serbia has two influential states, China and Russia, on its side," he said.

"As for the proceedings before the International Court of Justice, we will make a decision when the time comes. We are now analyzing every model, but we hope for a positive solution," said Tadić.

"We are ready to undertake new initiatives, that have not been undertaken from the very beginning. I'm an optimist and hope for a positive response of the ICJ."

"A few years ago a world politician told me, 'You will have to recognize Kosovo's independence sooner or later'. Last year, the same politician spoke to me in this way: 'Soon the international community will address you to give you back what's yours'."

He reiterated that Serbia will never recognize Kosovo.

"I repeat that we will never recognize Kosovo, not today and not in the future", he underlined.

 "I hope and I am confident that the decision of the ICJ will be very positive for Serbia. After that, we will be always ready to discuss the future of Kosovo with Pristina [Kosovo Albanians]."

"Serbia will at all times be ready to negotiate with Pristina on the future of Kosovo, taking into account legitimate interests of both Serbs and Albanians".

Asked whether Belgrade has Plan B in case the ICJ decision is unfavorable, Tadic said that "the moment is not right for such contemplations", and that, "in any case, war is not part of the deliberations on that issue".

The zero-sum game "is unsustainable in the long run".