President Clinton has warned the Yugoslav leader, President Milosevic, that there will be no let-up in the allied attacks until he meets the conditions set by NATO.
The President's warning came at an airforce base in Louisiana from where B-52 bombers are deployed for air strikes on Yugoslavia.
He told the air crews and their families: "We would like to nip this conflict in the bud before it destabilises all of Europe."
In spite of increasing pressure from public opinion and Congress to consider sending in ground troops to Kosovo, Mr Clinton made no reference to this. But he said: "We don't want American soldiers . . . to die on distant battlefields."
Secretary of Defence Mr William Cohen, who accompanied the President, told reporters that there was "no consensus" in the US, Congress or NATO for the introduction of ground troops into the conflict. "And there is no need according to our commanding officers. So until such time as that changes . . . we would not even consider it."
But as Congress returns from its Easter break, there are increasing calls for the President to reconsider his refusal so far to envisage sending ground troops into Kosovo except in a peace-keeping operation.
Democratic Senator Chris Dodd, who has just returned from visiting refugee camps in Macedonia, said yesterday that "you don't want to preclude a legitimate option". He said he would support a resolution in the Senate that would authorise "whatever force is necessary" to resolve the conflict. Ground forces "should be a permissible option".
The senator said that it was important that Congress should speak with one voice if possible. "If we send divided messages in the next 48 to 72 hours, I think we extend this conflict," he said at a press conference.
President Clinton began a round of consultations with leading members of Congress at the White House last night.
Earlier at Barksdale airforce base, the President said that President Milosevic "could end this tomorrow" by fulfilling four conditions.
But "until he does he should be under no illusion we will end it through weariness. We are determined to continue on this mission and we will prevail because of people like you", he told the air crews and families.
The four conditions listed by President Clinton are: withdrawal of Serb forces from Kosovo to the level agreed last October; the return of the refugees to their homes; an international force which would protect both Kosovan Albanians and Serbs; and allowing the people to work towards a system of self-government.
Mr Cohen said that the NATO campaign was showing results. "We're seeing decreasing military mobility and eroding morale" among the Serbs.
The William H. Gates Foundation has offered $1.5 million for refugees from Kosovo to several US-based charities. --(AFP)