The West and Russia have agreed to send envoys to Belgrade with Kosovo peace proposals which the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, says represent substantial progress. However Mr Schroeder, who currently chairs both the European Union and the Group of Seven rich democracies, told a news conference there were still no grounds for euphoria The Russian envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin and the EU's Martti Ahtisaari are due in the Serbian capital later tomorrow for talks with the Yugoslav leadership. It will be Mr Chernomyrdin's sixth diplomatic trip there for talks with President Milosevic.
Despite the peace efforts, intensive NATO raids have continued with more civilian casualties reported and much of Serbia blacked out by attacks overnight on power facilities. Serbian media reports said there had been raid after raid on communication and industrial and military installations throughout the country. Yesterday the authorities in Belgrade claimed that 30 civilians had been killed in NATO attacks on a bridge and a sanatorium.
NATO admitted today that its warplanes mistakenly bombed Albanian army units on the Albanian side of the border with Kosovo, destroying a guard box. The incident happened as a US aircraft carried out sorties against Yugoslavian forces dug in very close to the border; the area has seen intense fighting recently between the Yugoslavs and guerrillas from the Kosovo Liberation Army. None of the Albanian soldiers are reported to have been killed or injured in the attack. NATO also confirmed that a bomb aimed at an army barracks in the southern Serbian town of Novi Pazaar did go astray. NATO spokesman Jamie Shea has said one missile could have hit a residential area when it overshot its target. He said the alliance regretted any unintended civilian damage. Belgrade says the bomb hit a block of flats killing eleven people and injuring a further twenty. Speaking at a press briefing this morning, the British Defence Secretary, George Roberts urged journalists to concentrate on the activities of President Slobodan Milosevic.
