NATO troops roll into Kosovo  ALSO: NATO troops guard suspected mass graves Annan outlines civilian administration for Kosovo  MESSAGE BOARD: Crisis in Kosovo  MILITARY PLAN: RELATED VIDEO CNN's Christiane Amanpour reports on the deployment of U.S. troops in Kosovo Windows Media 28K 80K

June 14, 1999
Web posted at: 3:10 p.m. EDT (1910 GMT)

In this story: Some refugees return Clinton, Yeltsin talk again on Russian role 'A little edgy' Mass graves RELATED STORIES, SITES

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright announced Monday that she and Defense Secretary William Cohen will meet with their Russian counterparts in Finland this week hoping to break a stalemate over Moscow's role in a Kosovo peacekeeping force.

Meantime, minor confrontations, but no serious incidents, were reported as the first of more than 1,200 U.S. Marines entered Kosovo to take up positions in what will become the U.S.-controlled zone of the Yugoslav province.

From 100 to 150 U.S. Army soldiers in armored vehicles crossed into Kosovo hours earlier.

The first mission for the U.S. forces and thousands of other NATO peacekeepers is to help make Kosovo safe enough for hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanian refugees to return to their homes.

Despite the potential for danger from land mines or renegade Yugoslav soldiers, a steady trickle of refugees was observed crossing over the Macedonian border into Kosovo.

Some stopped to kiss the ground as they entered Kosovo. Others cheered or tossed flowers as vehicles containing NATO peacekeepers rolled past.

For some refugees, though, the exuberance turned to despair as they returned to their burned and looted homes.

NATO says it has sent about 14,300 troops into Kosovo since the international peacekeeping mission began on Saturday.

Spokesman Jamie Shea said the deployment -- from five countries, so far -- was slightly ahead of schedule. He played down the standoff with Russian soldiers who have taken control of the airport in Pristina, the provincial capital of Kosovo.

Ethnic Albanians welcome NATO troops with flowers and cheers

The Clinton administration took the same position, emphasizing that the impasse on Russia's participation had not prevented the NATO peacekeeping mission from proceeding as planned.

But for a second straight day, President Clinton spoke with Russian President Boris Yeltsin, trying to resolve differences over Moscow's role in the operation.

Afterward, Albright told reporters the telephone discussions had led to "real progress." But with the issue still unsettled, she said both she and Cohen would be going to Helsinki, Finland, "in the next few days" for talks with Russian Defense Minister Marshal Igor Sergeyev and Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.

The two countries are trying to find common ground on a role for the 200 Russian troops already in Kosovo while talks continue on command arrangements for a larger Russian contingent.

The United States had hoped to reach an agreement with Moscow before Clinton departs Tuesday night for a trip to Europe and a meeting of the leaders of the seven industrialized nations and Russia in Germany.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, returning home after three days of negotiations in Moscow, said Sunday the United States was considering giving the Russians "a zone of responsibility" under NATO command.

Russia, which is not a NATO member, refuses to allow its peacekeepers to be under the alliance's command and wants to control its own sector in northern Kosovo, where ethnic Serbs are concentrated.

Both NATO and the United States insist that there be "unity of command," as Albright put it.

The allies also fear that giving Russia its own sector could lead to the partition of Kosovo.

The Marine convoy moved at first light Monday morning from its position in Macedonia toward southeastern Kosovo, the base of U.S. operations.

Armored units from the Army deployed a few miles away in the village of Sojevo.

Army soldiers told CNN they encountered no difficulties en route, although retreating Serb soldiers shouted verbal insults and made obscene finger gestures. During one tense moment, a retreating Yugoslav soldier who pulled a gun was subdued by fellow soldiers. No shots were fired.

In a separate incident, Marines on the main road to Pristina ducked into combat position behind their vehicles when they heard gunfire coming from houses 500 meters (a quarter-mile) away.

They said they didn't believe they were the targets.

Suspected mass graves, marked only by wooden markers, are found south of Pristina

"We were all a little edgy going in. We've got our guard up," said Cpl. Will Rapier, 20, of Paintsville, Kentucky, with the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines. "We just hope to get this thing over so we can all go home."

Thirty miles south of Pristina, in the town of Kacanik, U.S. forces guarding suspected mass graves awaited the arrival of war-crimes investigators for verification.

Earthen mounds with numbered wooden markers were first discovered by British troops, who led the NATO peacekeeping force (KFOR) advance into Kosovo. The odor of decay hung heavily over the area.

Local residents said the graves contained the bodies of about 100 villagers killed in a two-day-long rampage by Serb paramilitary forces.

Correspondents Christiane Amanpour, Matthew Chance and John King contributed to this report.

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