Vuk Draskovic, journalist and writer, Serb nationalist and royalist, former militia leader and pacifist, darling of Western satellite television and Deputy Prime Minister of Yugoslavia, was categorical. His enemy-turned-circumstantial-ally, President Slobodan Milosevic, had seen the light.
"I think Mr Milosevic is ready and must be ready to accept a resolution of the United Nations Security Council," Mr Draskovic told a packed press conference at his Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) headquarters yesterday. The idea of a UN force for Kosovo has been kicking around for months. But it has taken five weeks of NATO bombardments and the persistent droning of Mr Draskovic's Bela Lugosi accent to make the solution seem acceptable here.
As usual, Mr Draskovic had two messages to convey yesterday, one domestic, the other international. His criticism of the Milosevic regime (of which he is an active member) was delivered in Serbian. In English, he stressed that he spoke for Yugoslavia, repeating the words "our federal government" and "our state position" eight times in his introductory remarks.
Because of poor propaganda and second-rate diplomacy, Yugoslavia's stance had not been understood abroad, he said, adding with messianic fervour, "I will introduce you to the truth."
The Yugoslav government had repeatedly called for all refugees to return to Kosovo, he said, skipping the whole question of why Serb forces drove them out in the first place. (This was the only segment of Mr Draskovic's press conference broadcast later on state-run television.) The government wanted to help all suffering people "whether Serbs or Albanians" and had created committees to investigate possible war crimes.
Belgrade was ready to accept autonomy for Kosovo, as long as Serbia's territorial integrity was respected. Finally, Yugoslavia recognised the legal jurisdiction of the United Nations, not NATO. "There is only one thing that is not solved completely between our state and NATO," he added. "That is our readiness to accept foreign forces."
Following last week's visit to Belgrade by the former Russian prime minister, Mr Viktor Chernomyrdin, "we are very close to a compromise," Mr Draskovic said. How long would it take to end the war? Days? Weeks? "No, no, no. Not weeks," Mr Draskovic insisted. He suggested that Serb forces begin their withdrawal from Kosovo at the very moment NATO stops its bombardment.
But Mr Milosevic's exact position on the composition of the force, and whether it would be armed, remains blurred. Perhaps a negotiating gambit by the Serb leader? "Mr Milosevic officially accepts a United Nations mission in Kosovo under the flag of the UN and under a UN mandate," Mr Draskovic said.
Would the UN soldiers be armed? "According to the statement of Mr Chernomyrdin, yes. And by the way, it is logical for them to be armed," he added.
The "1 or 2 per cent" where he did not speak on behalf of the Yugoslav government concerned the composition of the UN force. Mr Draskovic said that after this war it was difficult for Serbs to contemplate NATO troops in Kosovo, "but at the same time these countries are members of the UN and the UN decides. I don't like NATO in Kosovo, but I am not the Security Council of the UN."
While Mr Draskovic spoke of UN peacekeepers and the US envoy, Mr Strobe Talbott, met Russian officials in Moscow, President Milosevic laid a wreath at the tomb of Yugoslavia's unknown soldier, in silence. Why did other Serb leaders not respond publicly to his initiative? Mr Draskovic was asked. "I don't know, but I believe they are committing an incredible mistake," he said. "Their responsibility is to face the public, to face journalists every day. I am demanding that from them, but I cannot order them."
Impeccably made up for the television cameras, seated before the twin flags of Serbia and Yugoslavia, Mr Draskovic conveyed a presidential image that must worry Mr Milosevic. Over the past decade, Mr Draskovic's political flip-flops have often made him appear clownish, but yesterday he played the orator and statesman, noting that he too had had a long telephone conversation with Mr Chernomyrdin.
Vuk means "wolf", a fitting name for a man with such a bushy beard and deep voice and the ability to survive in Serbian politics. In his man-of-the-world way, the Deputy Prime Minister even mocked President Milosevic for giving his only interview of the war to a small television station from Houston, Texas.
There were other digs at Mr Milosevic, spoken in Serbian for domestic consumption. "Serbia is not a one-party state. The military does not belong to a party. I am extremely unhappy with other media," Mr Draskovic shouted ominously, and a few of the Serb journalists in the audience must have shuddered for their future careers in the event Mr Draskovic comes to power.
"This will not be tolerated . . . This war must be stopped." He banged his fist on the table. "The longer the war lasts, the more regulations they will pass and the more money they will take from the people. Serbia must be defended from both its external and internal enemies."
Outside in Kneza Mihailo Street, a crowd gathered beneath the windows of Mr Draskovic's party offices. Marijana and Jovan, both power-plant technicians, had brought their seven year-old son Nikola in the hope that Mr Draskovic would give them good news.
The couple have not voted for many years, but "in this situation, we would vote for Vuk Draskovic," Marijana said. "Since the beginning of the war, he has acted like an extremely sensible person."