The US and European members of the UN Security Council were last night set to call for a clear path towards the independence of Kosovo, but aimed to overcome Russian objections by offering a four-month delay to allow a final round of talks.

In a draft resolution, likely to be formally introduced to the council today, they suggest a 120-day "sunrise" clause, giving all parties one last chance to reach agreement on the future of the breakaway Serbian province.

If those talks failed, and unless the council decides otherwise, a plan drawn up by UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari would automatically come into effect, leading to "supervised" independence under European Union and Nato guidance.

Kosovo has been a UN ward since Nato drove Slobodan Milosevic's Serb forces from the majority ethnic-Albanian province in 1999.

Diplomats said Russia was still objecting to the proposals, and predict tough negotiations ahead. Some have cited a summit between US President George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin, his Russian counterpart, in the first week of July as a date by which they hope to reach agreement.

As a permanent member of the Security Council, Russia has a veto over the plan, and it is far from clear that the extra four months provision will be enough to win its support.

Were the new resolution to be agreed, it would in effect strip Russia of its veto power over the plan, as a further resolution would be needed to stop the process - and that might be vetoed by the US, France or the UK.

A Security Council diplomat said other measures intended to entice Russia included the draft text's lack of an "explicit endorsement" of the Ahtisaari plan, the creation of a special envoy to deal with internally displaced Serb minorities, and the assurance of a greater role for the Security Council in the future.

But other envoys doubt the wording would make any difference, saying the bottom line is that Kosovo would become independent.