Gates, in Kosovo, pledges US troops through '09

PRISTINA, Kosovo - The United States will maintain its troop presence in Kosovo until at least late next year, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday, underlining US support for the new country, which declared independence last February in defiance of Serbia and Russia.

The visit by Gates - the first visit of a US Cabinet member to Kosovo since its independence declaration in February and the first visit here of a US defense secretary since 2001 - has symbolic resonance at a time when Russia has been seeking to assert its political and economic clout in the Balkans and the Caucasus, where it fought a recent war with Georgia.

Gates's arrival in Kosovo began a week of meetings with European defense ministers during which the United States is expected to reassure its allies in the ex-communist bloc about their prospects of joining NATO and the West, even as Russia seeks to show its former Soviet satellites that doing so comes at a price.

Nevertheless, Gates, a former director of the CIA and Russian expert, said ahead of the meeting that the United States was seeking to balance the need to show Russia that the war with Georgia had altered their relations, while, at the same time, trying to keep an avenue open for cooperation on key issues like Iranian nuclear proliferation, where Russia can exert influence.

"We have to figure out the right path in terms of the reality that we have to do business with Russia on important issues, but at the same time convey the message that it can't be business as usual after what happened in Georgia," he said.

In Kosovo, speaking after a meeting with Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and President Fatmir Sejdiu, Gates said the United States would maintain its troop level here while providing Kosovo with military equipment and training. The United States currently has about 1,600 troops in Kosovo, part of a 16,000-strong NATO peacekeeping force.