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Dozens of fighter planes have left Italian bases as Nato makes its last preparations for attacks on Serbia.

Italian reports say F-16, F-18 and EA-6B aircraft were believed to be "carrying weapons" as they took off from Aviano airbase in northern Italy and Istrana airbase.

Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic has remained defiant calling on his people to be prepared to defend their country "by all means".

In a nationally televised address he warned them that "at stake is the freedom of the entire country".

Despite Nato being under orders to unleash its missiles and planes within hours, the Yugoslav president said the best thing the population could do was to go about its business as usual.

The BBC's Bridget Kendall: "Every indication that bombing is about to start"

"We shall defend the country if it is attacked," he said.

US State Department spokesman James Rubin warned Serbs that America would not tolerate attacks on Americans in Yugoslavia.

Darkness has fallen in Belgrade adding to the sense of tension and the streets are much quieter than on a normal evening.

Late this morning a wave of giant US B-52 bombers left an airbase in the UK. The long-range bombers, believed to be armed with cruise missiles, flew out of RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.

Nato's Mediterranean force, comprising eight warships, has left the Italian port of Trieste and headed out into the Adriatic.

Orla Guerin went to see how the Kosovo Albanians are preparing for air strikes

In Kosovo, tension has risen with air raid sirens being tested in the capital, Pristina.

Cruise missiles are expected to form the first wave of attack, hitting key air defence sites to clear the way for bombing raids on Serb forces in the province itself.

After the collapse of diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in Kosovo, Mr Solana gave the go-ahead on Tuesday night for air strikes against Yugoslavia.

On Wednesday, he appeared to close the door on any chance of a last minute halt to Nato action by reiterating on US television that air strikes would go ahead.

Saying there had been no change overnight in the behaviour of Mr Milosevic he said: "We are going to continue with the decision taken yesterday".

Nato Deputy Secretary-General, Klaus-Peter Klaiber, says the first strikes will be Wednesday evening at the latest.

Talks offer

Reports from Moscow suggested Serbia wanted further talks.

John Simpson outlines a possible future deal

Yugoslavia's ambassador to Russia, who is also the brother of President Milosevic, said Belgrade was ready to hold more talks with US envoy Richard Holbrooke.

Borislav Milosevic was quoted by Russian news agency Itar-Tass as saying Yugoslavia was ready to "solve problems peacefully and continue talks on a political solution which would take into consideration the national and government interest of Yugoslavia and Serbia".

BBC Defence Correspondent Mark Laity says he thought the offer was unlikely to stop Nato strikes and that at this stage only a Serb promise to withdraw troops from Kosovo and sign the peace deal could halt military action.

Correspondents say Nato is fully aware of the capability of the Serb air defences and the campaign is expected to be tougher than those waged by the British and Americans against Iraq.

State of emergency

Listen to Nato Secretary-General Javier Solana's speech

Yugoslavia is on high alert after the government declared a state of emergency. .

The declaration, read out on state television by Yugoslav Prime Minister Momir Bulatovic, cited an "imminent threat of war, the danger of aggression against Yugoslavia by Nato".

Military preparations are continuing, and air-raid shelters and bunkers are being prepared for civilians.

The main independent radio station, B92, was taken off the air and its editor-in-chief, Veran Matic, was detained in Belgrade. However, B92 continued broadcasting through the Internet.

Meanwhile the authorities in the neighbouring former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia have now reopened their border as thousands of refugees from the latest Serb-led offensive flee south.

They shut the border temporarily to people carrying Yugoslav passports in an effort to control the growing humanitarian crisis there, after taking in nearly 20,000 refugees.

That represents just a fraction of the 250,000 people who are reported to have been displaced since the conflict began just over a year ago.

The last of the United Nations aid workers are also reported to have been withdrawn from Kosovo.

Russian opposition

Rob Parsons in Moscow: Russia is saying time hasn't run out for talks

President Boris Yeltsin appealed to world leaders in a national television address on Wednesday to keep Bill Clinton from making what he described as a "terrifying and tragic" mistake of launching air strikes against Serbia.

Russia says it is ready to call an emergency meeting of the Security Council if the strikes go ahead.

Prime Minister, Yevgeny Primakov - back in Moscow after cancelling a visit to the US in mid-flight - warned that Russia's relations with Washington would be damaged.

He said European stability would also be harmed and the situation in Kosovo destabilised.

The Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov, said planned Nato attacks were an act of aggression and ran counter to UN resolutions.