The Russian envoy, Viktor Chernomyrdin, says that he has "new proposals" to make to the United States on ending the crisis in Kosovo. Mr. Chernomyrdin returned to Moscow tonight after talks with Chinese leaders in Beijing. The Russian envoy has been briefing President Boris Yeltsin on the results of his trip. No details of the proposals have been given.
Mr. Chernomyrdin is due to have talks with the American Deputy Secretary of State, Strobe Talbott, in Moscow tomorrow. Earlier today, NATO launched some of its heaviest air raids yet, saying that it saw no sign of the partial Yugoslav troop pullout from Kosovo announced by Belgrade yesterday. Fighting also continued between the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army and Serbian security forces. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe reported thirty rebels wounded, seven of them seriously.
Russia and China demanded an end to the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia earlier, with Beijing signalling it might otherwise hold up Western attempts to achieve a Kosovo peace deal at the UN. The United States insisted the air war would continue until NATO demands were met. The British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said this morning that, while he is open to finding a diplomatic solution to the Kosovo crisis, he insisted that military pressure had to be maintained on President Milosevic.
The alliance has stepping its attacks on Yugoslavia, despite China's warning that this would prevent its support for a draft peace plan agreed by the G8 countries last week. Russia's envoy, Victor Chernomyrdin, said that Beijing was insisting the bombing had to stop before the plan could be considered; Beijing's embassy in Belgrade was bombed by NATO over the weekend.
NATO members of the United Nations Security Council have also blocked a move by China to get the council to condemn the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in which three people were killed. NATO planes continued their bombardment of Yugoslav targets last night. Targets in the Belgrade region, as well as in the north and south west of Serbia are reported to have been attacked.
