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May 3, 1999
Web posted at: 9:22 a.m. EDT (1322 GMT)

MOSCOW (CNN) -- Russia's special Balkans envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin arrived in Washington Monday to meet with U.S. President Bill Clinton on the latest Russian ideas for an end to the Yugoslav conflict.

"If there hadn't been anything concrete, there wouldn't be such a trip," Chernomyrdin said before boarding a flight out of the Russian capital.

American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson said he would also meet with Clinton on Monday, carrying a letter from Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic outlining Yugoslavia's latest proposal for peace. Jackson picked up the letter while successfully negotiating for the release of three American soldiers held prisoner in Yugoslavia since March 31.

Chernomyrdin was dispatched to Washington after a meeting Sunday of President Boris Yeltsin's cabinet in which Russia's foreign policy team plotted strategy.

Details of Russia's proposals were unknown, but Chernomyrdin has hinted that Belgrade is now flexible on the critical issue of an international peace-keeping force in Kosovo. But the Russian diplomat has not indicated the extent of the possible flexibility.

Previously, Milosevic has refused to discuss any peace proposals until NATO's bombing campaign ends. NATO has insisted that the bombing will continue until Milosevic complies with the peace plans set out in March in Rambouillet, France. Those plans include the international peacekeepers.

Before his departure, Chernomyrdin was optimistic.

"Each war ends with peace, and it will happen in this way," he said. "In general, there is hope. We should always have some hope. And at the moment I have such a hope."

Chernomyrdin has shuttled between Moscow, Belgrade and European capitals for the past week trying without success to mediate an end to the conflict. Clinton agreed to meet with him after a Sunday phone call from Yeltsin.

The Russian envoy is also scheduled to meet with U.S. Vice President Al Gore and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday. Afterward, he said, he may fly to Belgrade, but that would "depend on the results of our negotiations in the United States."

Russia has fiercely opposed NATO's bombing campaign in Yugoslavia, while deploring the reported Serbian ethnic cleansing campaign.

Correspondent Betsy Aaron contributed to this report.

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