"For the time being, the necessary progress has not been made," French President Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters after talks with US President George W. Bush on the last day of the June 6-8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany.

Russia is opposing Western efforts to adopt a UN resolution that would clear the way for independence and Sarkozy on Thursday suggested a six-month delay in any vote to find more time for a deal.

Sarkozy said Russia, in overnight talks among G8 leaders' advisers, had not agreed to a delay in return for recognising "the unavoidable prospect" of independence for Kosovo.

Asked if there was still a threat of a Russian veto over Kosovo, he said: "I think one could say it like that."

A source in the Russian delegation said there was "a general understanding" among G8 leaders, that there was "no need to hurry" with a United Nations vote on Kosovo. Sarkozy in particular shared that understanding, the source said.

Russia has traditionally been a strong ally of Serbia, whose government refuses to brook independence for Kosovo.

Sarkozy said on Thursday that, under his proposal, Serbia and Kosovo would be pressured into negotiating a "better status" than that currently proposed, giving the two sides six months to reach agreement.

In Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, American officials urged patience among Albanian leaders fretful of risks to independence and insisted no deal had been done on a delay.

The United States had forecast a UN vote this week, but has apparently retreated in the face of the threatened veto.

As expected, in a statement issued on the final day of a G8 summit the members said they regretted the fact that Teheran had ignored three UN Security Council resolutions calling for a temporary halt to all uranium enrichment activity.

The leaders in their formal communique, said they were "deeply concerned about the tragic security and humanitarian situation," but underlined "that there is no military solution to the conflict in Darfur".

The G8 members are the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and Russia.