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| DIPLOMATIC OVERTURES | |
 May 19, 1999 
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Talks on a possible diplomatic end to the Yugoslavia conflict ended on a positive note in Helsinki today. Delegates to the negotiations between Russian and the U.S. diplomats said the discussions would continue in Moscow. --Posted 11:00am EDT |
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Martti Ahtisaari, the president of Finland and European Union representative to the talks, said Russian envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin would head to Yugoslavia to present the outcome of the Helsinki negotiations to Slobodan Milosevic. "Mr. Chernomyrdin will travel to Belgrade and we agreed that upon his return the same group will meet in Moscow," Ahtisaari said, although he would not elaborate on the content of the negotiations. US lead negotiator, Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, is in Bonn, Germany working on a draft U-N peace resolution with the Group of Eight, which comprises leading Western nations and Russia. The G-8 is meeting to continue discussion of a possible peace plan put forward by the group two weeks ago. The plan called for the establishment of an armed international peace force to be installed in Kosovo. "We are working on a process that began two weeks ago at the request of the foreign ministers to the political directors to lay out a roadmap and work on a U.N. Security Council resolution," said Guenter Pleuger of Germany, who was chairing the meeting. "Today's meeting will seek agreement on that among the states of the G8." The talks in Bonn would also attempt to clarify the composition and installation of any such force. On Tuesday, the Yugoslav Foreign Ministry had indicated that they would be willing to discuss the G-8 proposal and said that Belgrade may be ready to "cut a deal." All of these moves have begun to increase hopes of a possible negotiated end to the two-month war. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder indicated he saw a chance for peace. "As far as the political solution is concerned, I am more hopeful than I was a week ago," Schroeder told a news conference at NATO headquarters. He did add though that there was, "no reason to break into jubilation but they are a hopeful sign for a political solution." On the 56th day of strikes in the war-torn region, Yugoslav media reported another deadly strike in Kosovo. Tanjug, the state-run news service, said four had been killed in an attack on Gnjilane, a Kosovo town 25 miles southeast of the capital, Pristina. It also said 14 NATO missiles landed near the southern town of Vranje today, causing "great material damage." It was not possible to confirm the reports, which had no further details. |
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