Moscow, 28 May 1999 (RFE/RL) - Russia's Balkan envoy, Viktor Chernomyrdin, has left Moscow for Belgrade for another round of talks with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on resolving the Kosovo crisis. Before departing Moscow this morning, Chernomyrdin told the Interfax news agency that "it is necessary once again to clarify Belgrade's position."
Chernomyrdin's meetings with Milosevic and other top Yugoslav officials follows two days of marathon talks in Moscow with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott and the European Union's Kosovo mediator, Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari.
Chernomyrdin said he was not satisfied with the results of the tripartite talks which, he said, have not been productive. But he said the negotiations would continue, and Ahtisaari indicated yesterday he too might travel to Belgrade if Chernomyrdin indicated his presence would be useful. Chernomyrdin's Belgrade trip, his fourth mediation effort in the Yugoslav capital, also followed by one day the indictment of Milosevic and other leading Yugoslav and Serbian officials as war criminals by the international tribunal in The Hague.
Chernomyrdin said he was not satisfied with the results of the tripartite talks which, he said, have not been productive. But he said the negotiations would continue, and Ahtisaari indicated yesterday he too might travel to Belgrade if Chernomyrdin indicated his presence would be useful. Chernomyrdin's Belgrade trip, his fourth mediation effort in the Yugoslav capital, also followed by one day the indictment of Milosevic and other leading Yugoslav and Serbian officials as war criminals by the international tribunal in The Hague.