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Russia's mixed reaction to Kosovo peace

There has been a mixed reaction so far in Russia to the breakthrough on Kosovo.

Praise for the efforts of the Russian envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin has been accompanied by criticism that Russia agreed to too many of Nato's terms.

President Boris Yeltsin told the German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder that Nato should halt its air campaign immediately.

Is the framework peace deal a Russian diplomatic victory? The reaction in Russia so far to the Kosovo peace deal has been surprisingly low-key. It was only the fourth item on Friday's news on the main television channel ORT.

President Yeltsin is probably waiting until the Nato bombing campaign ends before he proclaims a diplomatic triumph. Earlier the Russians had insisted that the bombing must stop before they agreed to a peace settlement.

Several Russian generals are also unhappy with the idea of Nato forces being at the core of a peacekeeping force in Kosovo.

An addendum to the peace agreement says that Russia and Nato will sign "additional agreements" on the command structure of the forces in Kosovo.

A leading hardliner, Deputy Defence Minister Leonid Ivashov, suggested there would be tough negotiations over that issue.

"The military are deeply dissatisfied with the many conditional aspects that were mentioned during the process of reaching the agreements," he said.

"We are dissatisfied. Why? Because much is still unclear. It is very vague to us in the military. And much depends today on the scrupulousness of our partners in the political settlement process."

'Betrayal of Serbs'

All the same, if the bombing does stop in a day or two, Viktor Chernomyrdin's part in securing a peace deal will still be a political victory for Mr Yeltsin.

The parliamentary opposition in the Duma was made to look totally out of step with the world yesterday as they complained of a "betrayal" of the Serbs, just as their colleagues in the Serbian parliament were voting to accept a peace deal.

The eccentric ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky ended up contradicting himself within a few hours.

First, he attacked Mr Chernomyrdin for incompetence, later he praised him for his diplomatic success.

Russia's part in this deal is the fruit of the policy shift Mr Yeltsin made in April, when he toned down the anti-Nato rhetoric and decided to become a peacebroker between the two sides.

Russian moderation

The Western powers, who were being sucked into a much bigger conflict than they had anticipated, were relieved.

They appointed the Finnish President Maarti Ahtisaari to be their own envoy to work in tandem with Mr Chernomyrdin, opening an important diplomatic channel between Nato and Belgrade.

Last Sunday, as the Russian mission appeared to be on the verge of failure, Mr Yeltsin ordered Mr Chernomyrdin, his new prime minister, Sergei Stepashin, and the Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov to meet and do everything to make a peace deal work.

Possibly it was this meeting that made Russia moderate its position and persuaded Mr Milosevic that it was time to cut a deal.

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Internet Links

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Kosovo Crisis Centre
Eyewitness accounts of the bombing
Nato
Serbian Ministry of Information

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