Primakov, left, and Schroeder after Primakov's arrival in Bonn on Tuesday RELATED VIDEO CNN's Brent Sadler reports on the meeting between Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on March 30 Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Brent Sadler reports on the Russian delegation meeting in Belgrade Tuesday - March 30. Windows Media 28K 80K To view the latest video streams on the strikes in Yugoslavia, use the arrow buttons below to scroll through the video gallery. 28 K 80 K INTERACTIVE: Flight from Kosovo:  ALSO: U.S.: Milosevic offer falls 'far short' Pentagon: Difficult to say we've 'prevented one act of brutality' 'Just go': Refugees describe terror in Kosovo U.S., world mobilize to aid Kosovo refugees Go along on a B-52 mission  MESSAGE BOARD Crisis in Kosovo

March 30, 1999
Web posted at: 3:26 p.m. EST (2026 GMT)

In this story: Russia: Foundation laid for more talks NATO steps up strikes amid terror claims RELATED STORIES, SITES

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States and Germany on Tuesday rejected the Yugoslav proposal to end NATO's bombing campaign in the Balkans. Washington said the proposal falls "far short" of what must be done before NATO will halt its airstrikes.

"We regard this suggestion as falling far short of what is necessary in order for NATO to stop its air campaign ... (The proposals are) woefully inadequate," State Department spokesman James Rubin told a news briefing.

He referred to conditions laid down by Yugoslav President during talks in Belgrade on Tuesday with Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov. Primakov later visited Bonn and reported details to German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

"Our position is clear. Milosevic must halt the offensive against the Kosovar Albanians, withdraw his forces and embrace a settlement based on the Rambouillet framework," Rubin said.

He said President Bill Clinton spoke to Schroeder by telephone and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright had conversations with the foreign ministers of Germany, Britain and France. Clinton and Schroeder "see eye to eye on the need to continue in a determined fashion NATO's military operation against the brutal forces conducting this crackdown in Kosovo," Rubin added.

Schroeder also rejected the Kosovo negotiation offers after meeting with Primakov, who had met with Milosevic earlier in the day in Belgrade.

Primakov said Milosevic was willing to participate in new Kosovo peace talks and would allow the return of "peaceful" refugees, but only on condition that NATO stop its airstrikes and the West stop support for the Kosovo Liberation Army rebels.

"The proposals brought by Prime Minister Primakov are no basis for a political settlement," Schroeder told a news conference.

Germany holds the rotating presidency of the European Union and is, along with Russia, a member of the Balkan Contact group that mediated two recent rounds of Kosovo peace talks.

Schroeder said he would be talking with NATO representatives later Tuesday but he was certain they also would reject the overture.

"I made clear I cannot accept the precondition that we must cease military activities first and then start negotiating. I'm sure the NATO partners see it the same way," Schroeder told a news conference.

A Serbian television newscast Tuesday evening also carried extensive coverage of the Milosevic proposals. According to the broadcast, Milosevic was willing to allow "peaceful" refugees back into Kosovo and would withdraw some troops once a truce had been implemented.

Russia: Foundation laid for more talks

Primakov said he considered the result of his mediation mission in Belgrade as "a good start" for further talks.

However, NATO has repeatedly made clear that the NATO bombing campaign will only stop under two conditions: when Milosevic embraces the international peace proposal for Kosovo, or when NATO believes the bombings have degraded the Yugoslav military to the extent that the troops can no longer continue their crackdown in Kosovo.

In the West, Milosevic is widely considered the force behind a reported campaign of ethnic cleansing against the ethnic Albanian population in Kosovo.

Clinton on Tuesday again underlined the human suffering of Kosovars, saying NATO nations were unified and would continue their bombings.

Clinton has repeatedly blamed the suffering of tens of thousands of refugees on Milosevic and his hunger for power, which the president said was evident even in an earlier conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin had asked Primakov to go to the Yugoslav capital to try to negotiate an end to the Kosovo conflict.

"The crisis in the Balkans demands not emotional evaluations, but well-balanced and decisive actions," Yeltsin said Tuesday.

Russia, a traditional ally of the Serbs, has been a firm opponent of NATO airstrikes and has repeatedly condemned the bombardments.

The mission by Primakov, who was accompanied by Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev, is the most high-level mediation effort since the NATO strikes began.

NATO steps up strikes amid terror claims

At a NATO news conference in Brussels earlier Tuesday, spokesman Jamie Shea described the Kosovo situation as "a humanitarian disaster of enormous proportion." And British Air Commodore David Wilby, a NATO military spokesman, told journalists that "Serbian ethnic cleansing has reached new heights."

Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping of Germany said Tuesday that Milosevic "will try over the next two to three weeks to turn Kosovo into a region of destroyed villages, where the adult male population will have been interned or killed and the rest driven out or fleeing."

International aid agencies have increased emergency aid efforts for the tens of thousands of ethnic Albanian refugees who have fled to Albania, Macedonia and the Yugoslav republic of Montenegro.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday that NATO plans to intensify its air attacks. Blair said he spoke with Clinton and NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana and "we are absolutely at one on this: The answer to what is happening is to intensify the attacks."

Yugoslavia insists that ethnic Albanians in Kosovo are not being persecuted or targeted but are getting caught in fighting between government forces and ethnic Albanian separatists.

State-controlled Serb radio said Yugoslav gunners shot down two NATO planes early Tuesday, one south of the Montenegro capital Podgorica and another over the southern Serbian town of Vranje. Western military spokesmen denied any planes had been lost.

NATO has acknowledged only the crash of a U.S. F-117 stealth fighter Saturday.

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