Moscow - Russia said yesterday that a UN resolution urging the Yugoslav authorities to reach a political settlement on its separatist region of Kosovo did not authorise any military action against Belgrade.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was worried by a statement from the NATO Secretary General, Mr Javier Solana, on Thursday that the Western alliance was stepping up preparations for military intervention in the Serbian province.
On Wednesday the UN Security Council demanded an immediate ceasefire and talks to end the conflict in Kosovo, where Serb authorities have cracked down on ethnic Albanian separatists. Russia voted for the resolution in the 15-member council.
Mr Solana said NATO had taken its first formal step towards readying its war machine for possible intervention in Kosovo if Yugoslavia ignored the UN's demand for an end to the conflict in the mainly ethnic Albanian province.
Meanwhile, reports from Pristina, the Kosovo capital, said Serb security forces had "liquidated dozens" of ethnic Albanians guerrillas and arrested 325 others during operations in northern Kosovo.