Chernomyrdin traveled to Belgrade to seek a diplomatic solution to the Kosovo conflict  TRIBUNAL INDICTMENT: Full text of the U.N. tribunal's indictment of Milosevic (includes names of alleged murder victims) RELATED VIDEO CNN's David Ensor reports on relief air drops Windows Media 28K 80K Some refugees have been moved away from the Albanian border. CNN's Jeff Flock visits "Camp Hope." (May 27) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K In Russia, where peace talks are going on, negotiators refused to comment on the war crimes indictments. CNN's Jill Dougherty reports. (May 27) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K What do Kosovo refugees think of the indictments? CNN's Tom Mintier asks them. (May 27) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K To view the latest video streams on the strikes in Kosovo, use the arrow buttons below to scroll through the video gallery.        Windows Media Real        28 K 80 K IMAGE GALLERY The many faces of refugee relief A cracked window to a war  ALSO: U.S. group to begin Kosovo food drops Monday U.S. offers evidence to back Yugoslav war crimes charges U.S. balances refugee needs, war goals Refugees dodge shellfire, snipers Albanian army stages war games near embattled border Jimmy Carter: NATO bombing 'a fruitless effort' Milosevic, 4 deputies charged with war crimes  THE DELUGE OF REFUGEES: Where are they going?  MESSAGE BOARD: Crisis in Kosovo  IN-DEPTH SPECIAL: NATO at 50 Strike on Yugoslavia

May 28, 1999
Web posted at: 11:40 a.m. EDT (1540 GMT)

In this story: NATO won't negotiate Highest number of NATO missions, again Yugoslavia reports more civilian deaths KLA reportedly grows larger RELATED STORIES, SITES

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (CNN) -- Russian special envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin arrived in Belgrade Friday for more Kosovo peace talks with President Slobodan Milosevic, offering to keep negotiating despite a U.N. tribunal's indictment of the Yugoslav leader on war crimes charges.

As he arrived in the Yugoslav capital, electrical power was out in much of the city and across Serbia after the latest round of NATO attacks.

"The most important thing is to have the bombing halted so that political negotiations can continue," the state-run Tanjug news agency quoted Chernomyrdin as saying. Asked about his upcoming talks, he said: "The results should be an end to the war and bombing."

Chernomyrdin said Thursday that the indictment of Milosevic and four senior Yugoslav officials Thursday would complicate efforts to end the war prompted by the conflict between separatist ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and their Serb rulers.

"We warned them (the tribunal). We requested them not to do it," he said.

NATO won't negotiate

On Friday in Brussels, NATO repeated its position that the strikes will continue until Yugoslavia agrees to the alliance's conditions, and that none of them were negotiable.

"We are not talking about negotiating with President Milosevic. Everybody understands that. There is no negotiation here. The five conditions are the five conditions," NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said.

U.S. special envoy Strobe Talbott briefed alliance officials about his recent talks in Moscow with Chernomyrdin and Finnish President Marrti Ahtisaari.

"The real issue is what message Mr. Milosevic is receiving, and what he is preparing to do," he said in Brussels on Friday. "That is an open question, one that Mr. Chernomyrdin with be exploring in Belgrade today."

In Washington, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told CNN that Milosevic's indictment was not a matter of negotiation for any proposed agreement to end airstrikes.

"No one has the authority to give him amnesty," she said Thursday. "The Russians voted for the tribunal. This is an action taken by a tribunal, an independent prosecutor representing the international community."

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday the indictment was "purely politically motivated," and questioned why the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia had not investigated NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia. Officials in Belgrade say the attacks have killed thousands of people, many of them civilians.

Highest number of NATO missions, again

NATO continued airstrikes Thursday night despite Milosevic's indictment

On day 65 of the airstrikes, NATO increased the number of missions flown to 792, which alliance officials on Friday said were the highest number yet.

NATO warplanes, taking advantage of clear skies, attacked Serb forces in Kosovo, including at least 20 artillery pieces, two tanks, an armored personnel carrier, two mortar positions, seven anti-artillery pieces and two multiple-rocket-launcher systems.

The bombs hit highway bridges in a number of areas, including Raska, Popovac and Pertate. Military headquarters and army barracks in Pristina, a vehicle storage site at Nis, and more than 10 radio or television communications sites also were struck.

NATO missiles smashed more of Serbia's electrical network overnight, knocking out two major power distribution stations in Belgrade and plunging most of the capital into darkness, Serbian media and residents reported.

Witnesses said flames and smoke poured from an electricity distribution station in Belgrade's Bezanijska Kosa district. That facility distributes power from the Obrenovac generating station southwest of the capital.

Among the casualties of the blackout was Belgrade's main hospital, the Emergency Medical Care Center.

Yugoslavia reports more civilian deaths

Tanjug said three people died and several were wounded in an attack on Aleksinac, near Nis, that destroyed 10 houses and damaged about 30.

Earlier, the Beta news agency reported that two people were killed and two wounded when a bridge over the Jablanica river in Lebane district in southern Serbia was attacked.

As the Kosovo conflict drags on, the refugee crisis continues to unfold

Local media also reported blackouts and interrupted water supplies in the industrial town of Pancevo, northeast of the capital, and in Serbia's second largest city, Novi Sad, in the northwest.

The airstrikes came a day after NATO was granted authority to attack a broader range of targets. A senior U.S. official told CNN they included communications centers and the residences of top Milosevic aids.

KLA reportedly grows larger

In other developments:

• Albanian military forces conducted training exercises with live ammunition near the Yugoslav border Friday. Rockets and tanks fired shells near Kukes. Albanian military leaders and President Rexhep Meidani watched from a reviewing stand.
• International agencies and the United Nations sent humanitarian assistance into Yugoslavia, but Yugoslav forces confiscated supplies intended for Kosovo, NATO officials said Friday.
• An international telecommunications company has decided to ban the Serb television network RTS from accessing its satellite link, blocking broadcasts into much of Europe, NATO officials confirmed.
• In Washington, Rear Adm. Thomas Wilson said Thursday that the Kosovo Liberation Army, which seeks independence for Kosovo, had tripled in size since the start of the airstrikes from about 5,000 to about 16,000.

Correspondents Matthew Chance and Martin Savidge contributed to this report.

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