Nato officials have confirmed that the Russian ambassador to the alliance, Sergei Kislyak, will meet the ambassadors of the 19 Nato member countries on Tuesday.

The only topic on the agenda will be the situation in Kosovo.

The Russians froze all formal contacts with Nato and withdrew their military representative at alliance headquarters last March to signal their displeasure at the allied air strikes against Yugoslavia.

Nato officials say the Russian ambassador and the alliance's Secretary-General, Javier Solana, have been in frequent contact over the last few weeks, meeting informally in Brussels and speaking over the phone.

US casualties

Earlier on Monday, two American soldiers were killed in a road accident in Kosovo - the first fatalities for US forces since they entered the province.

Three others were lightly injured.

The accident happened on Sunday afternoon when an armoured personnel carrier overturned while on a routine patrol near the town of Domorovce in eastern Kosovo.

The BBC's Nick Childs in Kosovo says that the vehicle apparently came off the road after losing a track.

The US forces have launched an investigation.

Another US soldier died on 4 July in a traffic accident in neighbouring Macedonia and two were killed in helicopter crashes in Albania while training during the Nato air campaign.

'More money needed'

The aftermath of the Kosovo conflict is being discussed by European Union foreign ministers at a meeting in Brussels.

They are expected to discuss the reconstruction of the province and take up the vexed issue of the location of the EU's reconstruction agency in the Balkans.

The European Commission wants the agency to operate from the provincial capital Pristina, but Greece says EU leaders had earlier agreed to locate it in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki.

The meeting comes amid growing concern about reprisal attacks against the province's Serb population by returning Kosovo Albanians.

The Yugoslav Government is reportedly forming a national assembly for Kosovo Serbs to protect their interests.

The Beta news agency, quoting government officials, said communities in Kosovo with a Serb population of more than 1,000 will have one deputy and areas with more than 3,000 Serbs will have three representatives.

Mr Kouchner meets Mr Thaci

On Sunday, the newly-appointed United Nations administrator in Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, called on the international community to increase its aid to protect the ethnic communities in Kosovo.

He said aid was needed immediately, not in several months.

Mr Kouchner was speaking after meetings with leaders of Kosovo's Serb community.

Kosovo Serb leader Momcilo Trajkovic and Serb Orthodox Bishop Artemije told him of their concern about the fate of minority Serbs in the province.

Mr Kouchner said the burning of houses, threats and other acts of revenge against Serbian and other minorities would not be tolerated.

Mr Kouchner also visited the divided town of Mitrovica, and Prizren and Pec.

Yugoslav army warns opposition

The BBC's Jacky Rowland: "Remarks were clearly intended to counter reports of growing opposition"

In Belgrade, Yugoslav army head General Dragoljub Ojdanic has accused opposition politicians of leading the country towards a "new catastrophe".

The general said they were trying to oust the legally elected authorities and take power by force and he warned that they "could not count on the people's support".

His published comments came on Sunday after Serbian opposition leader Vuk Draskovic used his first rally since the Kosovo campaign to call for the resignation of the Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milosevic.

At least 10,000 people - many of them brought in by bus for the event - gathered in the main square of the central Serbian town of Kragujevac.

Mr Draskovic also said that returning Yugoslavia to the international community was the most important task facing the country.

His remarks angered another Serb opposition leader, Zoran Djindjic of the Alliance for Change, who has rejected working with Mr Draskovic.

He said Mr Draskovic's plan raises the spectre of Mr Milosevic remaining in power.