The London meeting of the Contact Group, which launched the negotiations toward defining Kosovo's status (Interfax, February 1, 2), is being assessed by the post-Soviet secessionist leaderships cautiously. They do not seem to assume that the outcome in Kosovo would necessarily set an international precedent to legalized secession. This is Russian President Vladimir Putin's professed assumption. On January 30-31, Putin called for the post-Soviet enclaves' international recognition and came close to promising Russian recognition if, as expected, Kosovo is granted independence (see EDM, February 2, 6). In the Contact Group's meeting, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov reiterated Putin's...