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June 3, 1999
Web posted at: 5:29 a.m. EDT (0929 GMT)

In this story: Belgrade studies plan Joint Chiefs of Staff, Clinton to meet Good weather aids NATO campaign RELATED STORIES, SITES

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (CNN) -- Talks on ending the Kosovo conflict recessed on Thursday morning after 90 minutes but were expected to resume after the Serbian parliament decided on a Western-backed peace plan.

Meanwhile, there were no immediate reports of NATO strikes around Belgrade overnight, but scattered bombing in other parts of Yugoslavia was reported.

Chernomyrdin and Ahtisaari, representing the European Union, presented Milosevic with the proposal Wednesday that includes a peacekeeping contingent including both NATO and Russian units.

The meeting -- the first direct talks by a Western diplomat with Milosevic since the NATO bombings began March 24 -- lasted about 90 minutes, with Ahtisaari leaving first and Chernomyrdin staying behind for further discussions.

A senior Yugoslav official refused to characterize the talks saying, "It is too early to make any statement."

But, even though there was no immediate breakthrough, the Belgrade leadership was said to be studying the plan.

Upon arrival in Belgrade, Ahtisaari struck an upbeat note, saying: "This is a historic moment. Mr. Chernomyrdin and I are coming with a peace plan and an offer for peace."

"I hope after these talks we can proceed to a peaceful development in the region," he said.

The peace proposal, backed by the Europeans, Russia and the United States, links an end of NATO bombing to a verification that the Serbs are withdrawing their troops from Kosovo.

Talks on a peace deal have been hung up on the questions of Serb withdrawal from the embattled province and the makeup of the peacekeeping force. Until now, Yugoslavia has resisted any NATO presence.

In the United States, Vladislav Jovanovic, the Yugoslav Charge d'Affaires to the United Nations, said, "We are ready to achieve one compromising solution, but we are not ready to surrender. We are not ready to give up sovereignty or our country, or any of its parts."

Asked if Yugoslavia still opposed NATO forces acting as peacekeepers, he said, "Our basic position, that the NATO countries which are mostly exposed in that aggression against us, such as the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany, cannot expect to be allowed to enter into Yugoslavia."

But he added, "This is our basic position. What is going to be the final outcome ... on the composition of that team, it remains to be seen."

As the talks in Belgrade intensify, the Joint Chiefs of Staff are to meet with Clinton Thursday. Defense Secretary William Cohen on Wednesday said the option of a possible ground invasion of Kosovo will be "raised and discussed."

But he said that option is not under active consideration at this time and the Joint Chiefs are not making any recommendation.Cohen also acknowledged there is no NATO "consensus for a ground operation in a non-permissive environment."

Earlier, President Clinton announced the deployment of 68 more F15s and F16s to join the NATO mission and 7,000 U.S. troops to the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, roughly 15 percent of the proposed 50,000-member

State Department officials called this a "significant development."

Clinton, in a commencement address to Air Force Academy graduates in Colorado Springs, Colorado, made clear NATO's offensive will continue unabated until a peace deal is achieved.

"If we have the patience and determination to match the courage and skill of our men and women in uniform, we will achieve our goals," the president said.

He reiterated the campaign's moral and strategic goals of ending the ethnic cleansing, allowing those displaced to return to their homes and providing a stable political environment in the region.

"Our diplomatic effort supports these goals," said Clinton. "They will continue to make clear to Mr. Milosevic exactly what he must do to end the conflict and our military campaign will continue until it does."

In Brussels, NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said the peace plan presented by Chernomyrdin will "test the will of Milosevic, not only in word but moreover in deed" to withdraw his forces from the embattled province.

NATO on Thursday said it took advantage of favorable weather conditions on Day 71 of Operation Allied Force to press its attacks against Serb forces.

NATO flew 644 sorties, including 239 strike and 69 suppression of air defense missions.

In Kosovo, particularly in and around the area of Mount Pastrik, allied aircraft struck at least 25 artillery pieces, five mortar positions, 12 tanks, eight armoured personnel carriers and a variety of other military vehicles.

Other facilities that support Serb forces in Kosovo were attacked, including:a command post at Pristina, an ammunition storage site at Kursumlija, airfields at Ponikve and Batajnica, a highway bridge at Velika Oraste, supply depots at Cuprija and Svtozarevo and radio relay stations at Pristina and Ljubovica, Dimitrovgrad, Besna Kobila and Sremska Karlovci.

Also hit were FM/TV transmitter stations at Kragujevac Crni, Kraljevo and Novi Sad and radio broadcast stations at Nis and Srbobran

All NATO aircraft returned safely. Allied Force operations are under way on Day 72.

The official Yugoslav news agency Tanjug reported that NATO missiles battered radio and television transmitters at several sites across Serbia overnight and hit bridges carrying the main north-south motorway and railway line over the Jasenica River in central Serbia.

NATO planes also launched "heavy attacks" on the area of Prizren in southern Kosovo early on Thursday, Tanjug reported.

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