UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari, who chaired the talks, said there had been no breakthrough at the meeting.
"No. I would be lying if I said so. It was the first meeting of this kind. It would be totally wrong from my side to expect any breakthrough," Mr Ahtisaari said at the end of the one-day meeting.
The unprecedented talks was a chance for the Serbian and Kosovo Albanian leadership to meet face-to-face and directly exchange their opposing views on Kosovo's future.
It was their first meeting since a NATO air war drove Belgrade's forces from the province in 1999.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority wants independence but Belgrade and Kosovo's minority Serb community insist the region is part of Serbian territory that cannot be given away.
"They are as far apart as possible: Belgrade would accept everything but independence, while Kosovo Albanians will accept nothing but independence," Mr Ahtisaari said.
But the UN official played down disappointment with the outcome, describing the talks as "frank and candid", and adding that the atmosphere was "better than I could have expected."
Speaking after Mr Ahtisaari, Serbian President Boris Tadic said the "talks were good" despite the "totally different positions" of both sides.
Mr Tadic insisted that Serbia was "against any imposed solution on Kosovo. Serbia has no intention to govern Kosovo Albanians. Serbia has the intention to defend our legitimate interests."
But Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu said Pristina would "strive to work and build an independent Kosovo which would provide full respect for its people and residents, including the minorities."
"The independence is the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end of our position," Mr Sejdiu insisted.
Kosovo has been under UN administration since a NATO bombing campaign forced Serbian troops under then Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw and end a brutal crackdown against armed ethnic Albanian separatists.
Up to 10,000 people have died while hundreds of thousands, mostly ethnic Albanians, fled the province during the war.
The two sides pointedly did not shake hands before they were seated opposite each other in an elaborately decorated Gothic room of the famous Palais Niederoesterreich.
Also present were officials of the six-member Contact Group that includes representatives of the United States and Russia, which have been involved in the UN-backed dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, launched in February.
Mr Ahtisaari said a fresh round of talks, focused on more technical issues, would continue in August, with officials discussing topics as decentralisation of power and more rights for minority communities.