http://www.hri.org/news/usa/std/1999/99-04-01.std.html
MR. RUBIN: Well, for example, as I indicated in response to Roy's question,
the changing of the leader of the army there and the reports and indicators
we've been getting, that they are going to challenge Montenegrin's
democratic course, are troubling to us. We've had a variety of indicators
over the last couple of years that at various times Milosevic has considered
trying to suppress the democratic course that the Montenegrins have been on.
(It was made available yesterday.) The reporting is troubling, and that's
why we're making such clear public statements.
QUESTION: Jamie, Russian President Boris Yeltsin has called for an emergency
meeting of the G8 foreign ministers. First off, does the Secretary - does
the State Department have a reaction to that request?
MR. RUBIN: Secretary Albright, by the way, has been in touch twice in the
last two days with Foreign Minister Ivanov, once today and once yesterday.
With respect to that particular suggestion, let me say that we think that
the basis for a halt to NATO air strikes is well known, that Milosevic must
halt his offensive, pullback troops and embrace the Rambouillet accords as
the basis for the settlement in Kosovo.
We have said that diplomatic initiatives that reinforce these principles
would be constructive. The Secretary is in constant contact with the foreign
ministers of the G8 countries. We are not sure that an emergency meeting of
this kind is, therefore, an appropriate venue for the discussion of Kosovo.
What we need to see is a reversal of course by Milosevic. That's what will
enable diplomacy to be pursued and, nor do we necessarily believe that this
is the appropriate venue for that.
QUESTION: In her conversations with Ivanov, did she discuss this issue of
the Russians sending troops to the Balkan air -
MR. RUBIN: Troops?
QUESTION: I'm sorry, not troops, ships, to the Balkans.
MR. RUBIN: She did raise the issue, and she made clear what I indicated
yesterday is we don't think this sends a very helpful message at all.
QUESTION: What kind of a reply did she get?
MR. RUBIN: Well, I don't normally provide you with the Russian Foreign
Minister's end of the conversation. I think they've spoken publicly to what
they said about that in the Russian press.
...
In the short-term, President Milosevic may think that he is accomplishing
his objectives of driving ethnic Albanians out of Kosovo and presenting the
international community with a fait accompli. But NATO's commitment to this
crisis is not a short-term one. NATO strategy is aimed at disrupting and
crippling the assets that enable Milosevic to carry out his atrocities in
Kosovo. Those assets also form the basis of Milosevic's power. The longer he
refuses to stop his campaign of terror, withdraw his forces and embrace a
settlement based on Rambouillet, the longer NATO air strikes will continue.
If Milosevic refuses to comply with the demands of the international
community, he will increasingly find himself stripped of the military and
police assets that have enabled him to maintain dictatorial control over
Serbia and to wage a campaign of terror against the population of Kosovo.
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