Correspondents say he and the European Union envoy, Martti Ahtisaari, have agreed on the outlines of a peace plan whereby Russian forces would work alongside a Nato peacekeeping force in Kosovo.

The pair are now flying to Belgrade to put the plan to Yugoslav President, Slobodan Milosevic.

The news came after the World Court rejected a Yugoslav attempt to bring an immediate end to Nato airstrikes by legal action.

But judges in The Hague expressed "profound concern" about the legal basis for Nato's use of force against Yugoslavia.

Mission to Belgrade

Mr Ahtisaari, the Finnish president, said he and Mr Chernomyrdin would present their peace plan to Mr Milosevic.

BBC Diplomatic Editor Brian Hanrahan: "Signs of slippage in Belgrade"

Their discussions took longer than expected, and at one point the Russians cast doubt on whether the two men would go to Belgrade at all.

An aide to Mr Chernomyrdin, Valentin Sergeyev, said the United States had unexpectedly made new proposals that were partially unacceptable to Russia.

He said these had to do with the timing of a Serbian ceasefire in Kosovo and the return of the refugees.

Bombing continues

Nato has continued to bomb Serb forces, with the heaviest strikes coming in south-west Kosovo, near the Albanian border.

This follows the accidental bombing of Albanian positions on Tuesday in one of Nato's most embarrassing blunders of the two-month-old Kosovo campaign.

Serb military targets across Kosovo have been attacked in the last 24 hours, officials said, and power lines, fuel depots and TV relay stations were hit.

A Nato statement said the heaviest strikes were in southwestern Kosovo near the Albanian border, where heavy fighting continues between Serb forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army.

(Click here to see a map of latest Nato strikes)

Jeremy Cooke reports: "This was another highly visible Nato mistake"

Nato spokesman Jamie Shea admitted that a number of bombs dropped "inadvertently on the wrong side of the border" with Albania.

"Thankfully, no one was injured or killed. Let's not exaggerate this. This was a very small, very isolated incident," he said on.

The border has seen three days of heavy Serbian shelling following attempts by the KLA to open a supply route along the border. Hundreds of refugees have passed through the area in recent weeks.

Nato spokesman, Jamie Shea: "We shall keep this up until Mr Milosevic meets the conditions of the international community"

Sites in and around Belgrade were hit on Tuesday evening but the city was reported to be calm early on Wednesday.

Also targeted overnight were a radio relay in Ruma, and an army barracks near Kursumlija, 190 km (120 miles) south-east of Belgrade.

BBC Diplomatic Editor Brian Hanrahan: "Signs of slippage in Belgrade"

There is still no indication that Belgrade would allow a Nato-led peace-keeping force to enter Kosovo.

Earlier, the US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, and her Italian counterpart, Lamberto Dini, reiterated that they would not compromise over Nato's demand that its troops be at the core of a peacekeeping force in Kosovo.

Yugoslav military chief dies

In Yugoslavia itself, the military has taken the unusual step of reporting the death of the air force deputy chief of staff.

General Ljubisa Velickovic: "Died in the line of duty"

The Yugoslav military information service said on Tuesday that General Ljubisa Velickovic had died "in the line of duty" while inspecting military units in "the first line of defence" against Nato air attack.

It is not clear whether the death was the result of a Nato air attack. The military as a rule does not report casualties among the armed forces.

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