BELGRADE, Serbia-Serbia will cooperate in the case of a Serb basketball player wanted in the United States on assault charges, the foreign minister said Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic did not say if Miladin Kovacevic would be sent to the U.S. to face charges of severely beating a schoolmate.

Serbian law does not allow him to be extradited, and Serb officials have suggested U.S. authorities should provide them with the full case file so they can consider whether he should be prosecuted in Serbia.

Kovacevic, 20, had been recruited to play basketball for Binghamton University in northern new York, but fled the U.S. in early June after being charged with assault for allegedly beating Bryan Steinhauer during a May 4 bar fight.

Steinhauer, a 22-year-old student at the university, remains in critical condition in a coma.

"This case does not help, it has dealt a blow to the relations between Washington and Belgrade," Jeremic told reporters.

Jeremic also suggested Serbia planned to prosecute two consulate staffers who were removed from the U.S. after allegedly helping Kovacevic obtain emergency travel documents that helped him flee.

"In contact with the American side, we said we would be absolutely cooperative, that we will cooperate within the international laws, but also the laws of this country," Jeremic said.

U.S. officials met Monday with Kovacevic's parents to urge his return to the U.S. to face charges, according to the U.S. Embassy. Kovacevic's lawyer, Veselin Cerovic, said Tuesday the family is waiting for an official extradition request.

Serbia's new, pro-Western government, which took office this week, has pledged to improve bilateral relations that have been strained over U.S. recognition of Kosovo's independence.

Serbian nationalists broke into and smashed the U.S. Embassy building in Belgrade during a Kosovo demonstration, while Belgrade pulled out its ambassador from Washington in the wake of Kosovo's Feb. 17 independence declaration.