BELGRADE - The cultural heritage in Kosovo must not be used as a "political football" and both sides must acknowledge the destruction of cultural and religious monuments in the past, Karima Bennoune, UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, told a press conference in Belgrade Friday.

She cited the destruction of 35 Serbian Orthodox monuments and churches in March 2004 and the attacks against the workshop of ethnic Albanian sculptor Agim Cavdarbasa in Pristina and two mosques in Nis and Belgrade.

Following unilateral acts by the Pristina authorities, the level of Belgrade's trust in Pristina and its capacity to negotiate in good faith is understandably lower, the head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Marko Djuric on Wednesday told Simona-Mirela Miculescu, the representative of the UN Secretary-General and head of the UN Office in Belgrade.

Djuric briefed Miculescu on Pristina's illegal attack on the Trepca mining complex and the steps Serbia would take to inform the UN of this.

The Serbian government on Tuesday decided to annul all the legal consequences of acts and actions by the interim self-government institutions in Pristina regarding the factual and legal position of the Trepca mining complex, PM Aleksandar Vucic said.

“We were compelled to make such a decision as we want Trepca to continue to operate,” he told a press conference.

Trepca is vital for the survival of nothern Kosovo-Metohija, Vucic noted.

The Serbian government has sent a letter to Brussels explaining all the harmful consequences of the Kosovo Assembly decision on the Trepca mining complex, Politika reports.

It was the first step relying on legal and political instruments and democratic, parliamentary and extra-parliamentary methods aimed at protecting Serbia's property in Kosovo, the daily reported.

"Serbia will continue the discussions with Pristina on the agreement on telecommunications and try to improve the situation," Serbian Prime Minister said Thursday. "We will have many more contacts, we will talk to everyone, and try to see if there is anything we can improve or everything is set in stone, in layman's terms," Vucic told reporters in Senta, northern Serbia. When asked what would happen if everything remained "set in stone", Vucic replied the decision was yet to be made.

A difficult and serious ultimatum is set before Serbia when it comes to Kosovo; it is required to renounce the property of Telekom Serbia in the province, says the Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Đurić. He adds that Belgrade until Sunday has to make a decision whether to accept or not the "grotesque draft agreement on telecommunications."

First Deputy PM and FM Ivica Dacic has met with US Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation Thomas Countryman.

In an open, constructive conversation on Tuesday, Dacic and Countryman, who is also the acting Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security at the US Department of State, exchanged views on the situation in the region and a range of matters concerning international security and the present security challenges.

There was no visible progress or official statements late Wednesday following three days of this week's Belgrade-Pristina talks on telecommunications.

The Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija told Tanjug the talks addressed ways of transferring the property of Telekom Srbija to a daughter company to be established in Kosovo-Metohija under an agreement on telecommunications.

Serbian PM Aleksandar Vucic met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York Thursday to discuss the situation in the region, Serbia's European path and the dialogue with Pristina.

Vucic thanked Ban for his constructive contribution to world peace during his term, as well as for UNMIK's engagement in Kosovo-Metohija.

Serbia will never accept Kosovo-Metohija's independence, and it meets the conditions for EU accession as long as recognition of Kosovo is not required, Serbian presidential adviser Stanislava Pak said in a comment on a statement by German Foreign Office official Michael Roth, who said that, before Serbia's EU accession, everything must be clear regarding Kosovo.