"The head of the UN mission in Bosnia said that only ground troops could bring peace to Kosovo ... "``Many people (in the West) are hesitating now about what to do," she said. She was confident the conflict in Kosovo would NOT spill over to Bosnia and Herzegovina, despite rising tension between Serbs, Croats and Muslims in the area ... Russian Ambassador to Canada Denounces `War'; Seeks G8 Talks Ottawa, April 1 (Bloomberg) -- Russia's ambassador to Canada warned NATO's Kosovo airstrikes were sparking the largest European war since 1945. He appealed to G-8 nations to negotiate with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to end the fighting. Vitaly Churkin's comments at a news conference follow a call earlier in the day by Russian President Boris Yeltsin for an emergency meeting of the foreign ministers of the Group of Eight industrial nations after an earlier Russian peace initiative failed. ``There's concern about major war in Europe -- a major war is on already -- unparalleled in the history of Europe of the past 50 years, with all sorts of very dramatic and tragic possibilities of escalation,'' Churkin said. ``Bombs are falling, missiles are flying and there are troops all over,'' he said. ``The cause of the problem must and can be settled at the negotiating table.'' ``It is time to stop bombing and time to sit down at the negotiating table and look for political solutions,'' Churkin told reporters, adding that Moscow hoped for a ``swift and positive reaction'' to Yeltsin's invitation. After meeting with reporters, Churkin went to the Canadian Foreign Ministry where he presented the official invitation that also went out to other G-8 countries, the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and the U.S. `We're not exactly sure what Yeltsin has in mind,'' said Stewart Wheeler, a foreign ministry spokesman. Wheeler said Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy, who is at the United Nations today, had earlier said ``the most logical forum for such talks would be with the NATO foreign ministers,'' and not just the ministers of eight countries. Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov traveled to Belgrade earlier this week and passed on a peace proposal from Milosevic to Western European leaders. That proposal was rejected by the NATO allies. At a separate news conference, Defense Minister Art Eggleton said NATO forces were in the for the long haul to end the forced exodus of thousands of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo. ``At the end of the day, when the last chapter is written, Milosevic will be the loser.'' Canada's National Defense Headquarters staff was on alert this morning when there were reports of a bomb threat at the downtown building. Lt. Cmdr. Denise Laviolette, a defense ministry spokeswoman, said a ``package'' was thrown into the building lobby shortly after 7 a.m. Eastern time, and that the ``bomb squad was sent in'' to examine. ``No explosives were found,'' she said. Canada Urges UN To Address Kosovo By EDITH M. LEDERER .c The Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy urged the sharply divided U.N. Security Council to address the ``very horrific'' humanitarian crisis in Kosovo. Axworthy said Thursday that he discussed ``a number of ideas which he refused to disclose -- with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and some council members. But he stressed that there wasn't ``some magic plan, some blueprint, some quick fix.'' Last week, Russia failed to persuade the Security Council to demand an immediate end to NATO attacks on Yugoslavia. Twelve council members -- including the United States, Britain and France -- voted against the Russian resolution. Only China and Namibia joined Russia in backing it. ``The primary issue is to have the council engaged in the humanitarian side of it right now,'' Axworthy told reporters after meeting Annan. ``It's important for the U.N. to be involved.'' Sergio Vieira de Mello, the undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, is expected to brief the Security Council on Monday on the humanitarian situation in Kosovo. Canada and other council members want to wait for the report before taking any action, Axworthy said. ``I think the imperative right now is to try to come to an end of the intimidations going on in Kosovo,'' he said. Axworthy said he felt there was ``genuine concern'' among council members about the ethnic cleansing of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, which he called ``one of the great tragedies of our time.'' But he didn't meet the ambassadors of Russia or China. Russia, which has close religious and cultural ties to the Serbs, maintains that diplomacy had not been exhausted in Kosovo. China remains adamantly opposed to foreign intervention in domestic affairs, acutely aware that any precedent might someday be used to justify intervention in Tibet and Taiwan. Axworthy said he recognized ``that whatever might emerge has to be based on consensus'' which is tough to achieve on the council. ``I can't tell you we've arrived at any consensus,'' he said. The Canadian minister said he also discussed the deteriorating political situation in Montenegro with the secretary-general and France's U.N. Ambassador Alain Dejammet, who took over the council presidency Thursday. Canada remains seriously concerned about a Yugoslav takeover of Montenegro's pro-Western government following Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's removal of Montenegro's army commander on Thursday, Axworthy said. The Canadian minister reacted cautiously to Russian President Boris Yeltsin's invitation to the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations to a peace conference on Kosovo. ``If there is an opportunity to find a solution to the problem we're certainly prepared to be engaged,'' Axworthy said. ``But that solution must involve clear commitments from the Serbian government to withdraw, to protect citizens, to stop the various forms of harassment, intimidation and violence that they're now putting upon their own people. ``If there could be some guarantee from the Russians that that would be part of that discussion, than I think then we could look at it. But if it's simply a one-sided dialogue, then there's not much point.'' U.N. Bosnia official says troops needed in Kosovo By Adam Jasser HELSINKI, March 30 (Reuters) - The head of the UN mission in Bosnia said on Tuesday that only ground troops could bring peace to Kosovo. Elisabeth Rehn, a former Finnish defence minister, said she hoped NATO had a strategy to follow up on air strikes against Yugoslavia aimed at forcing Belgrade to halt its attacks on Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanian population. ``I know that it's a difficulty, (sending) ground troops, but this is the only way to calm the situation down,'' Rehn told Reuters by telephone from Sarajevo. ``Many people (in the West) are hesitating now about what to do and I don't have a miraculous solution, but I know that without ground work it's impossible to create peace.'' She said the West and Russia, which opposes NATO's intervention, should start negotiations within the framework of the U.N. Security Council on sending troops to Kosovo. ``Negotiations must start now on how to do it before too many people have died,'' Rehn said. Thousands of ethnic Albanians are fleeing from their homes in Kosovo amid reports of atrocities committed by the Yugoslav army and paramilitary forces. NATO has so far ruled out using ground troops and instead is intensifying air strikes in the hope Milosevic will stop the offensive. But Rehn said her earlier contacts with the Serb president made her sceptical he would bow down. She spoke just before Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov revealed Milosevic's offer to cut his military presence in Kosovo under conditions that seem likely to fall short of NATO's expectations. ``Milosevic has gone very far now and certainly will not bow before anything,'' she said. ``He has not much to lose -- that's my feeling from my (earlier) meetings with him and my fights with him over Kosovo.'' Rehn said she was confident the conflict in Kosovo would not spill over to Bosnia and Herzegovina, despite rising tension between the federation's Serb, Croat and Muslim communities. ``I don't think anyone will allow the map in Bosnia to be drawn anew,'' she said. She said Milosevic's bloody crackdown in Kosovo might force the reluctant West to back independence for the province. ``The more Milosevic is resisting demands for an agreement...the result might be that Kosovo will get more support for independence,'' she said.
