Yeltsin Pulls Russia Out of NATO By GREG MYRE .c The Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) -- Boris Yeltsin pulled Russia out of its partnership with NATO on Wednesday and warned of possible further steps to protest the airstrikes against Yugoslavia -- attacks that he called deeply troubling. If the conflict grows, Russia reserves the right to take ``adequate measures, including of a military character, to ensure its own and general European security,'' Yeltsin said after airstrikes began. His statement did not elaborate. ``Russia is deeply upset by NATO's military action against sovereign Yugoslavia, which is nothing more than open aggression,'' Yeltsin said. NATO strikes began a few hours after Yeltsin spoke with President Clinton for more than half an hour by phone, urging him not to take the ``tragic step'' of bombing. Yeltsin also called for an immediate session of the U.N. Security Council. Russia halted cooperation with NATO and pulled out of the alliance's Partnership for Peace, a program designed to promote military and political cooperation between the West and former Soviet bloc countries. Yeltsin, who has been ailing, was in the Kremlin on Wednesday for the first time in nearly a month. He ordered the recall of Russia's chief military envoy to NATO, Lt. Gen. Viktor Zavarzin, and the closure of Russia's offices at NATO headquarters in Belgium. Russia has vehemently opposed the use of force against its ally Yugoslavia for a military crackdown on ethnic Albanians in the province of Kosovo. The Russian leader said it was ``incomprehensible'' that NATO would carry out an attack without receiving authorization from the U.N. Security Council. Meanwhile, Yugoslavia's ambassador to Russia, Borislav Milosevic, claimed his country was ready to resume peace talks with U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke. Yugoslavia wants to ``peacefully solve the problems and continue talks on the political agreement,'' said Milosevic, the brother of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Russia has given no sign it wants to get involved militarily in Yugoslavia, although Russia's foreign minister hinted that Moscow may push for the lifting of the international arms embargo against the country. Russia might even consider withdrawing from the arms embargo unilaterally, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said. Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, whose party dominates Russia's parliament, said Russia should withdraw from the embargo now and provide arms to Yugoslavia. He also told the Interfax news agency that Russia should step up its nuclear missile programs. Despite Russia's opposition to NATO strikes, its options appear limited. Russia is desperately seeking new loans from the International Monetary Fund to revive an economy that's been in deep recession. Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov's primary aim on a trip to Washington this week was to secure the loans. But Primakov ordered his plane to turn around over the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday night when it became clear that peace talks in Yugoslavia had failed.
