Former US envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Richard Grenell says Thursday’s round of the Brussels dialogue at the highest level suffered a total collapse.

“It is disheartening to watch. Certainly, we know that, in the Trump administration we forged four economic normalisation agreements, and it was always President Trump’s vision to stop with all of the political negotiations, which, for 20-plus years, have produced next to nothing, and concentrate instead on economic development to make sure that the Balkan region produces jobs for the young people. We wanted to make sure that there was Western investment, American investment, and to watch these negotiations now falter, I think, is disheartening,” Grenell told an online press conference on Friday.

“The collapse yesterday of negotiations was really frustrating, there are no new dates scheduled and, with the looming deadline of September 1, we are quite concerned that the US administration – the White House and the Joe Biden administration – is not doing enough,” Grenell noted.

He also said he was concerned over the fact Pristina PM Albin Kurti had rejected all ideas.

“He is a tough negotiator, but he needs to realise that he has to come up with some ideas, too – it is not just a one-way street,” Grenell said.