Kovacevic, center, with green beret, and Stevanovic, with blue suit, arrive for a meeting with NATO Lt. Gen. Michael Jackson at the Macedonian-Yugoslav border  G-8 PLAN: Key points of the G-8 peace plan include: An end to fighting in Kosovo. A withdrawal of all Yugoslav troops and Serb special police. The safe return of all refugees. The installation of a NATO-led peacekeeping force to protect returning refugees. The creation of an interim administration for the province. The eventual autonomy of Kosovo within Yugoslavia. A formula for the economic redevelopment and stabilization of the province. RELATED VIDEO CNN's Chris Black reports from the White House on how the Clinton administration convinced Russia to join the G-8 peace effort (June 5). Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Martin Savidge reports on the latest group of Kosovo refugees to reach Albania (June 5) 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 NATO off target  ALSO: Balkan family in New York opens home to 30 Kosovo refugees NATO hopes peace deal deflates Milosevic's power Kosovo rebels wary of peace agreement U.S. Marines gearing for possible Kosovo deployment  THE DELUGE OF REFUGEES: Where are they going?  MESSAGE BOARD: Crisis in Kosovo  IN-DEPTH SPECIAL: Strike on Yugoslavia

June 5, 1999
Web posted at: 4:14 p.m. EDT (2014 GMT)

In this story: Preparations for peacekeeping force No aid with Milosevic in charge No let-up to fighting RELATED STORIES, SITES

BLACE, Macedonia (CNN) -- Talks between top military commanders of NATO and Yugoslavia on Yugoslav withdrawal from Kosovo were suspended Saturday after a five-hour session. The talks will resume Sunday.

The Yugoslav delegation met with NATO Lt. Gen. Mike Jackson on Saturday to receive instructions governing their withdrawal from Kosovo following Yugoslavia's acceptance of an international peace plan. NATO said the meeting broke up when the Yugoslavs wanted to clarify "one or two points" with officials in Belgrade.

"It has been a very constructive day of very positive talks," Clifford said after the meeting was halted late Saturday.

NATO warned that its bombing campaign, begun March 24, would continue "until we see the Yugoslav forces actually withdraw."

"We expect the Yugoslav military representatives to accept the terms that will be put to them by Gen. Jackson, and we expect them to have the authority not only to agree but also to order the immediate implementation of what is agreed," said NATO spokesman Jamie Shea.

Jackson, Lt. Gen. Blagoje Kovacevic, deputy chief of staff of the Yugoslav army, and Police Gen. Obrad Stevanovic reportedly went over the withdrawal document "point by point" during the meeting.

"It is crucially important that everybody understands what is meant by the words," said Lt. Col. Robin Clifford, a NATO spokesman.

Shea said that the plan Jackson was presenting to the Yugoslavs laid out routes and a timetable for the troop pullout.

Preparations for peacekeeping force

Meanwhile, NATO nations expected to send troops to make up the peacekeeping force that will enter Kosovo behind the Yugoslav withdrawal were stepping up their plans to deploy those units. Jackson, a British general commanding NATO's Rapid Reaction Corps in the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, placed his headquarters on 24 hours notice to move.

The peacekeeping force is to guarantee the safe return of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians who fled the province and Yugoslavia's alleged ethnic cleansing campaign.

Talks Yugoslavia, between Russia and seven Western powers, were scheduled to take place on Monday after meetings scheduled for Sunday were postponed.

In Russia, Balkans envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin said Saturday that if Russian peacekeepers were sent to Kosovo, they would not be under NATO command.

"We have not even discussed this question," he said. "Under our law and under our morality, we will never be under NATO."

Chernomyrdin and Finnish President Marrti Ahtisaari negotiated the Yugoslavs' acceptance of the peace plan, which came Thursday.

No aid with Milosevic in charge

In Belgrade, Yugoslav newspaper headlines trumpeted the peace agreement Friday, although Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has made no public comment on the deal.

The news that he has accepted the peace plan has left Belgrade in a kind of limbo between a war that is not yet over and peace that has not yet begun. Air raid sirens blared over Belgrade and in at least five other Serbian towns early Saturday, the official Tanjug news agency reported.

The 10-week war has devastated Yugoslavia, leaving as many as 1 million people unemployed and much of its capital without electricity or running water.

Yugoslavia reportedly wants NATO to rebuild the country, but some international members have warned that no aid will be forthcoming so long as Milosevic remains in power and no democratic reforms are instituted.

"Naturally, there will be humanitarian aid to Yugoslavia," said NATO spokesman Jamie Shea Saturday. But he added, "As leaders of the European Union made clear yesterday, there will not be any help in reconstructing Yugoslavia under the present management."

CNN's Walter Rodgers reported Saturday that some in Belgrade were beginning to question why Milosevic accepted essentially the same peace terms after 2 1/2 months of bombing that were offered before the campaign began.

No let-up to fighting

Tanjug reported missile attacks near the town of Lipljan, in Kosovo, and on Mount Rudnik in central Serbia. An area near the Kosovo town of Prizren was reportedly bombarded for more than an hour.

NATO military spokesman Gen. Walter Jertz said that NATO flew more than 500 sorties overnight, striking targets near Vrdnik, Titovo Uzice and Ivanjica in Serbia and several targets in Kosovo.

Earlier, NATO reported striking 30 artillery pieces, nine tanks and over two dozen other military targets in Kosovo.

Jertz also reported fierce ground fighting between Yugoslav troops and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which is fighting for Kosovo's independence, along the Kosovo-Albania border.

Yugoslavia wants guarantees that the guerrillas will not overrun the province when its troops leave the area. NATO officials said the issue was "difficult" and was to be addressed in future talks.

"As the Serb forces pull out and the NATO forces enter Kosovo, we expect the KLA to use restraint and not to take advantage of the situation," Shea said. "We expect the personnel of the KLA to abide by the instructions of Gen. Jackson."

KLA spokesman Pleurat Sejdiu said the separatist army planned to stick to the terms of the Rambouillet agreement it signed.

"We have some reservations about certain points in this deal, but we are ready to cooperate very closely with NATO," Sejdiu told CNN.

Correspondents Walter Rodgers and Lou Waters contributed to this report.