President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia, whose home was destroyed by NATO bombing yesterday, is prepared to accept a foreign military presence in Kosovo, it was claimed last night. According to Russia's special envoy, Mr Viktor Chernomyrdin, who met Mr Milosevic yesterday, the force would have to be under the control of the United Nations and have a significant Russian contingent.
Russia's official news agency Itar-Tass reported that the acceptance of a "foreign force" by Mr Milosevic was part of a document agreed by Mr Milosevic and Mr Chernomyrdin.
The statement issued to Tass initially referred to "an international presence" in Kosovo but later referred to this as a "force". This has been interpreted in Russia as the presence of an international military force.
The content of the joint Russian-Yugoslav statement was disclosed to the agency shortly before Mr Chernomyrdin boarded his plane for Moscow after nine hours of talks in Belgrade. Itar-Tass communiques on issues of such importance are authorised by the government before publication.
Mr Chernomyrdin said the composition of a possible force had yet to be decided, but the most important factor was that Russia would have a strong presence in any such force. "It is hoped that NATO will be able to accept such a force," the statement said. Negotiations between Russia and Yugoslavia would continue today, it said.
In Washington, President Clinton gave a cautious welcome to the report from Moscow.
Speaking after a meeting at the White House with the NATO Secretary General, Mr Javier Solana, the President said that he had just heard this report himself but could not yet confirm it. But if it were true, it would be the first time that Mr Milosevic had indicated his readiness to accept an international security force in Kosovo. If it were "genuine", this would "represent, I suppose, a step forward," Mr Clinton said.
Asked if NATO was now targetting Mr Milosevic personally after the bombing of his residence, Mr Clinton avoided answering directly. He said that NATO was bombing "command and control" centres of the Yugoslav forces such as the Socialist Party headquarters in Belgrade which was bombed two nights ago.
Asked if it would be possible to end the NATO attacks on Yugoslavia while Mr Milosevic remained in power, Mr Clinton said "NATO has set certain conditions" for the ending of the air strikes and if Mr Milosevic "meets those conditions and the Serbian people are willing to have him continue in power. . .but that begs the question of what the war crimes tribunal will do. We and NATO have never taken a position" on the question of Mr Milosevic staying in power.
Mr Clinton also said that he supported the decision by Mr Solana to update last year's NATO assessment on the use of ground forces in Kosovo. But "my position is still the same", he said. This meant a vigorous air campaign, intensifying economic pressures and continuing diplomatic efforts. PA adds: Britain reacted sceptically to reports that Belgrade was ready to accept an "international presence" in Kosovo.
A Downing Street spokesman with the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, in the United States said the report had yet to be verified, but added: "President Milosevic knows exactly what he has to do and this comes nowhere near it."
In a speech to the Chicago Economic Club, Mr Blair took last year's international financial crisis and the conflict in Kosovo as examples of the need for a new set of global rules for the 21st century.
"Non-interference has long been considered an important principle of international order. And it is not one we would want to jettison too readily," Mr Blair said, but added that "acts of genocide can never be a purely internal matter".