NATO and U.S. Sources Report the Following:

Macedonian Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski said in Washington on June 2 Macedonia would allow up to 30,000 NATO troops to be stationed on its territory. The troops, however, should not be used for an invasion against Yugoslavia, Georgievski said after his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. He added that not only Macedonia, but also other countries in the Balkans held the same position, including NATO members Greece and Hungary. U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin said Macedonian agreement was important, because NATO had to be prepared for fast entry into Yugoslavia if peace agreement is reached.

U.S. President Bill Clinton formally announced on June 2 that the U.S. would send 7,000 American troops for a planned international peace force in Kosovo. NATO now plans to deploy up to 50,000 troops for peacekeeping operations in Kosovo. President Clinton said in an address to the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs that the U.S. has increased the number of troops to be sent to Kosovo to sustain the proportional 15 percent American contribution.

US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott said in Bonn on June 2 that NATO should lead any peacekeeping force in Kosovo and that there should be unity of command. Talbott was reacting to Viktor Chernomyrdin’s statement that an agreement was reached for separate Russian and NATO commands for a peacekeeping force.

A spokesman for the Czech Ministry of Defense announced that the first trains, transporting NATO troops and equipment to the Balkans had crossed Czech territory early today. Spokesman Milan Repka did not say how many NATO troops or what equipment were on the train. He said it crossed into Slovakia later in the day and was bound for Romania.

NATO continued its attack on Yugoslavia, but apparently spared Belgrade. Twenty minutes before Chernomyrdin and Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari were due to arrive, an all-clear signal was sounded in Belgrade.

Britain’s Chief of Joint Operations, Admiral Ian Garnett said that a Kosovo peacekeeping force must be equipped with tanks and artillery.

NATO sources report that on Day 70 of Operation Allied Force, NATO aircraft struck at least 32 pieces of artillery, nine armored personnel carriers, eight mortar positions, six armored vehicles, four other military vehicles, a SA-6 SAM site and assorted reinforced positions. The heaviest strikes against Serb forces in Kosovo took place in the vicinity of Planeja and Mount Pastrik, where severe fighting continues between VJ/MUP forces and the KLA. NATO aircraft flew a total of 575 sorties, including 197 strike sorties and 70 suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD) missions. The weather in the area of operations was mixed yesterday, leading to the cancellation of some sorties.

Other targets hit included:

Electric power transmission tower near Belgrade

Military barracks at Obrenovac

Air defense command center at Novi Sad

AM radio broadcast stations at:

•Ruma

•Srbobran

TV/FM relay site at Banjska

Radio relay site at Novi Pazar

Highway bridge at Pirot

Railway bridge at Pirot

Petroleum refueling station at Marash

Petroleum storage site at Sombor

Ammunition storage site at Kursumlija

All NATO aircraft returned safely. Allied Force operations areunderway on Day 71.

Diplomatic Initiatives

An aide to Viktor Chernomyrdin has reported that Strobe Talbott has made new proposals on solving the Kosovo, however, he stated that the new proposals were "partially unacceptable." The aide, Valentin Sergeyev, refused to announce what Washington's new proposals were.

Yugoslav Foreign Ministry spokesman Milisav Paic reiterated that Belgrade would accept a peace-keeping force provided it did not include countries involved in the aerial campaign against Serbia. Paic said that the Yugoslav government had an "open mind" about the composition of a peacekeeping force for Kosovo but said that the details should be discussed by Yugoslavia and the UN. He stressed, however, that any peace force should not include the NATO countries involved in air strikes against Serbia. He said, "You can imagine what kind of animosity in this country is present against Americans, British, French or Germans. We are quite willing to negotiate on the basis of the seven principles which were laid down by the G8, but we are not going to accept any kind of dictate."

Following talks with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade today, Chernomyrdin said Yugoslav leaders are faced with a tough decision. Chernomyrdin said Yugoslavia must decide if it will accept an international peace proposal to end the conflict in Kosovo. "Of course the choice is difficult but the choice must be made, of course, above all by the leadership of Yugoslavia," Chernomyrdin told reporters.

Serbian radio reported President Milosevic submitted a peace plan to the Serb Parliament for consideration. The peace plan was presented to Milosevic on June 2 by Chernomyrdin and President Ahtisaari, and calls for a cessation of hostilities, Serb withdrawal from Kosovo, the return of refugees to Kosovo, an international peacekeeping force in Kosovo, and autonomy for Kosovo. Chernomyrdin said he is hopeful for peace after hearing that Milosevic submitted the plan to parliament for discussion.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said NATO bombing of Yugoslavia will continue until President Slobodan Milosevic clearly accepts NATO conditions for ending hostilities.

NATO Secretary General Javier Solana proposed a peacekeeping operation modeled after the one in Bosnia. "We have experiences in which we worked together with Russians. Bosnia is a good example in which countries belonging to NATO and other countries not belonging to NATO worked together in peacekeeping missions," Solana said. "This is the model I like, because it has been used already. Don't forget that model stopped the war and the suffering in Bosnia," Solana added.

A spokesman for the Greek government confirmed on June 2 that Madeleine Albright had contacted Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou on May 30 and requested communication with Belgrade. Papandreou then contacted Serbian President Milan Milutinovic and Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic, who said a resolution to Kosovo crisis was possible based on the G-8 peace proposal.

Russian NTV television reported Viktor Chernomyrdin’s military aides disagree with the peace plan Chernomyrdin and President Ahtisaari presented to President Milosevic. According to NTV, Chernomyrdin’s aides said the deal gives NATO too much control, and violates the key Russian demand that NATO bombings end immediately. "The military have said that, by signing these agreements, Russia has essentially removed the UN from fulfilling its peacekeeping role, handed over the solution of the Kosovo problem directly to NATO generals and, thus, violated the principles laid down in Russia's position on the resolution of the Kosovo crisis," NTV said. "Also, the military think that the instructions given to Viktor Chernomyrdin by President Boris Yeltsin on numerous occasions on how to conduct talks with representatives of the West have been violated," a NTV correspondent in Belgrade said.

Albanian Prime Minister Pandeli Majko expressed concern over a possible compromise between NATO and Yugoslavia to settle the conflict in Kosovo. "We understand all the political and diplomatic initiatives to solve the conflict, but at the same time we express our reservations on any possible deviation from the nonnegotiable NATO conditions," Majko said. Majko added that President Milosevic must be handed over to a war crimes tribunal to avoid further tragedy. "Every step in the opposite direction would redefine and enlarge the conflict," Majko warned.

As he was leaving Bonn for Belgrade, Viktor Chernomyrdin said NATO and Russia would both deploy peacekeeping troops in Kosovo, but under separate commands. Chernomyrdin said there was a "realistic chance" that the conflict in Kosovo would end soon.

British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook rejected the notion of putting part of a peacekeeping force in Kosovo under Russian command, saying Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic must accept NATO as the key player. He said deploying Russian forces in northern Kosovo, closest to the rest of Serbia, while NATO forces policed southern Kosovo would effectively partition the province. Cook said, "We are not willing to enter into a partition of Kosovo, either by agreement or by the back door."

Valentin Sergeyev, aide to Viktor Chernoymrdin, was quoted by "Interfax" news agency as saying that NATO airstrikes may end shortly. "Bombings of Yugoslavia may end in the nearest time," he said.

Refugee Crisis

The leader of a recent UN humanitarian fact finding mission reported to the Security Council that his team found evidence that ethnic Albanians were "systematically" forced from their homes. Under-Secretary-General Sergio Vieira de Mello said his team has evidence Yugoslavia "organized, well-planned violence against civilians aimed at displacing and permanently deporting them" from Kosovo. De Mello reported Yugoslavia agreed to allow humanitarian aid convoys to enter Kosovo. De Mello told reporters he planned to send "regular land convoys" to Kosovo as soon as possible.

Other Developments: