by Rafaela Prifti/

On Tuesday, US Presidential Envoy for Kosovo Serbia negotiations, Richard Grenell, announced on his Twitter account that he has “received the commitment from the governments of Kosovo and Serbia to temporarily pause the derecognition campaign and the seeking of international memberships in order to meet in Washington, DC at the White House on June 27 for Dialogue discussions.”

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci responded via Facebook hailing the US leadership role in the peace talks: “I welcome the invitation to resume the dialogue process for normalizing relations between Kosovo and Serbia under the leadership of the President of the United States Donald Trump.”

The announcement of the Kosovo Serbia talks under the auspices of the US is widely welcomed by the Albanian-American community that has been critical of Eurupe’s noncommittal position on the stalled negotiations.

The Twitter posting of Ambassador Grenell comes as the EU diplomat Miroslac Lajcak arrived in Kosovo today to revive the European Union efforts to bring the parties back to the table.

EU Envoy Lajcak, who met with Kosovo’s President Thaci in Prishtina today, said that the talks must conclude with a comprehensive, lasting pact between Serbia and Kosovo, reiterating a common desire by both to join the EU.

In February, Mr. Grenell oversaw an agreement under which Serbia and Kosovo agreed to develop road and rail links to boost economic cooperation prior to resolving long-standing issues.

Drawing attention to the economic perspective, US Special Envoy Grenell said on his Twitter account today: “If either side is unsatisfied with the June 27 discussions then they will go back to the status quo after they leave Washington. We must first make progress on growing the economies.”