Report: Russia Sends Warships to Yugoslavia
By BARRY RENFREW Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia will send warships to the Mediterranean in response to NATO airstrikes
against Yugoslavia after Moscow's diplomatic efforts failed to end the bombings, Russian news agencies
reported today.
However, Russia has said repeatedly that its military will not become directly involved in the conflict in
Yugoslavia.
A squadron of seven ships, including missile frigates and anti-submarine frigates from the Black Sea fleet, will be sent to the
Mediterranean in early April, the Interfax and ITAR-Tass news agencies reported. Turkey has been notified the squadron will
pass through its Bosporus Straits that link the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, the reports said.
A Russian Navy spokesman, who requested anonymity, declined to confirm the reports, saying all Russian naval forces would
be conducting training exercises in April.
The appearance of a Russian naval squadron in the Mediterranean could cause concern among NATO commanders. U.S. and
allied warships are deployed in the region for operations against Yugoslavia.
President Boris Yeltsin and other officials have strongly condemned the NATO action but ruled out any Russian military
intervention. While any deployment of warships would likely be symbolic, it would be a step up in the Russian response.
With its military and economy in shambles, Russia does not have the means to mount a credible military response to support its
Yugoslav ally. Moscow is also desperate to secure new Western loans to prop up its economy.
Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov returned to Moscow today after his diplomatic mission to Yugoslavia failed to produce a
breakthrough. Moscow had hoped to resume international talks on ending the Kosovo dispute.
Primakov said he believed Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic had signaled he was ready to start talks on a peaceful
solution.
''A signal was received from Milosevic which, in Russia's opinion, is sufficient for starting a political process and renouncing
military options which are leading the sides nowhere except to a deadlock,'' Primakov said on Russia's NTV television
channel.
Alexander Lebed, a leading nationalist politician and a presidential aspirant, said Russia should break the U.N. arms embargo
on Yugoslavia and provide military aid, such as air defense missiles, to the Serbs. Several other opposition leaders have said
Moscow should supply weapons to Belgrade.
''We are witnessing a precedent of (NATO's) total and global control being formed, which is very dangerous for Russia,
Europe and the world,'' Lebed said Tuesday.
The Russian military has suspended contacts with NATO in protest over the alliance's action in Yugoslavia and recalled its
general representing the Defense Ministry at NATO headquarters.
Meanwhile, a leftist group took responsibility for attacking the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and said it was the start of a
campaign against Western targets to protest NATO's airstrikes, according to news reports today.
The previously unknown group named Scythian sent letters to Russian newspapers saying it carried out the attack in which
gunmen with grenade launchers and a rifle opened fire on the embassy. No one was hurt and the gunmen escaped.
The group included in the letter two serial numbers it said were from the grenade launchers left at the scene. Russian police
refused to confirm the group's claim.
Scythian, named after a tribe of warlike nomads who roamed Russia 2,000 years ago, said it is an ultra-left organization that
was formed to honor a deceased Russian Orthodox priest who supported the Communist Party. |
