Trump's advisor to RSE: US has no secret plan for Belgrade and Pristina

(Patria) - It has not yet been determined whether US President Donald Trump will attend the meeting of the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia at the White House on September 4, said Trump's special advisor. He stated that the United States has no secret plan when it comes to the negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia, and insisted that the topics of discussion will be of an economic nature, writes Radio Free Europe.

This advisor participated in a telephone briefing with journalists, organized on the occasion of the meeting in Washington, in which representatives of the press are participating with the obligation not to reveal the name of the interlocutor, writes RSE.

The upcoming meeting in the US capital will be attended by Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.

"We are exclusively focused on implementing the agreements we have already reached – on air travel, railways, and highways. These agreements will enable us to build economic development," he said, adding that these agreements, which have not yet been implemented, will be discussed this week, and then additional issues will be added to the discussion "that will enable job creation and economic development".

"We will test whether there is a willingness on the part of the parties to talk about these issues. I think we will present almost every issue, but it will depend on them whether they want to go further with it," he told RSE.

"The US has no secret plan," he said, adding: "We don't have anything we're going to ask for. The only thing we will ask for is that, if they want US assistance, if they want development dollars, then progress on the economic front is necessary. We don't want to waste our money," said the US administration official.

 According to him, discussions on this will take place on Thursday and Friday (September 3 and 4).

"Whether the President will physically participate in these meetings on Thursday and Friday is yet to be determined," he said, adding that Trump has already been informed, as far as the US side is concerned, about how economic projects will be prioritized.

"We will have a discussion on Thursday, we will see what happens. If the parties are interested in agreeing on economic development, the US knows how to do it and we are ready to help," he said.

He could not predict whether political issues would also be discussed in the future. He also said that topics about border changes would not be discussed, as these are not topics related to economic development.

"I have never been involved in such discussions. We are focused on economic normalization," he said.

When asked by Radio Free Europe to comment on President Trump's statement in a letter to Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi in 2018, that the US is ready to help in efforts to reach an agreement that will "balance the interests of Kosovo and Serbia", what is meant by "balancing" or whether it implies some kind of compromise, Trump's special advisor stated that some words should not be over-analyzed.

"There is no secret meaning to the word balance, it just means fair. We don't have a secret plan, there is no discussion about that word, it simply means whether the parties will agree on something. The parties will sign something they consider fair and, perhaps I would say, balanced. If the parties consider something balanced, if the parties think they are getting something or more than they are giving up and consider it okay, then they will sign. We have no secret plan, we have no demands, it depends on the parties. Our decision is to push the two sides and say what is important – economic development and jobs for young people,"