Russia Warship To Monitor NATO By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV .c The Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) -- Adding a show of force to its protest against NATO raids on Yugoslavia, Russia said Wednesday it is sending a warship to the Mediterranean and putting others on standby. The announcement came the same day Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov returned to Moscow after failing to persuade Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to revive talks on ending the Kosovo dispute. Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev said one warship of the Black Sea Fleet would leave Friday and another six were also ready to go ``to ensure Russia's security when the defense ministry considers it necessary.'' ``The defense ministry is also considering more decisive actions that will be recommended to the leadership if the situation changes,'' Sergeyev said, refusing to elaborate. President Boris Yeltsin and other top officials have said repeatedly that Russia will not get involved militarily in the conflict around the Yugoslav province of Kosovo. But the appearance of a Russian naval squadron in the Mediterranean would irk NATO commanders and add to already tense situation in the region, where U.S. and allied warships are deployed for operations against Yugoslavia. In Washington, State Department spokesman James P. Rubin said the move was not a ``particularly helpful gesture.'' ``We are obviously concerned by the signal such a large deployment might send to Belgrade and other countries in the region,'' he said. Sergeyev did not say what kind of ship Russia was sending first. In Turkey, the foreign ministry said it had approved a Russian request for passage through the Bosporus, beginning Saturday, of one cruiser, two destroyers, two patrol ships and three support ships. While any Russian deployment of warships would likely be symbolic, it's a step up in the Russian response, which so far has remained largely limited to vociferous verbal protests. Moscow has also recalled its representative at NATO and suspended all contacts with the alliance. Some Russian politicians have demanded that Russia break the international arms embargo on Yugoslavia and supply Belgrade with air defense missiles and other weapons. Regional governor Alexander Lebed, a presidential hopeful and former general, called Wednesday for sending air defense missiles to Yugoslavia in some of his strongest statements yet on the NATO bombing. ``We must declare that we will render military and technical aid to Yugoslavia with the aim of supporting the civilian population,'' said Lebed, adding that Russia should declare Yugoslavia a ``zone of strategic interest.'' Later Wednesday, Lebed argued on NTV television that the military help to Yugoslavia would help save Europe from what he described as U.S. domination. ``Their idea of peacemaking is hitting a mosquito on your forehead with an ax,'' he said. But the Russian military is in shambles and the nation badly needs foreign loans to crawl out of one of the worst recessions ever experienced by an industrial country. That effectively deprives Russia of an opportunity to give military help to its Yugoslav ally and confines its response to symbolic steps. According to Russian news reports, the Black Sea Fleet is suffering an especially acute fuel shortage and has had little training lately. Returning to the Russian capital following his meeting with Milosevic in Belgrade, Primakov said the Yugoslav leader gave a ``signal'' that he was ready to revive peace talks. ``Russia will continue efforts to end this not clever and tragically wrong decision to continue the military action against Yugoslavia,'' Primakov said.
