(3 Jun 1999) English/Nat
Yugoslavia will never agree to a Western demand to allow U-S, British or French troops within its borders as part of a peace agreement, the Yugoslav ambassador to the United Nations said on Wednesday.
The announcement was made at a news conference in Los Angeles , where Ambassador Vladislav Jovanovic was to speak before the World Affairs Council.
Just hours after Russian and European Union envoys delivered a peace plan to President Slobodan Milosevic, the United Nations Yugoslav Ambassador spoke at a press conference in Los Angeles.
Senior Russian, European Union and U-S officials indicated on Wednesday they are closer than ever to an agreement on what it would take to establish peace in Kosovo.
Jovanovic's comments, however, suggest the parties are far from reaching agreement on one of two key Western demands - an armed military force with NATO at its core in Kosovo to police the peace agreement and the return of refugees.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"The letter was sent to Mr Fischer in his capacity as the President of the European Union for this period. And in this letter it was reiterated that we're ready plus we accept the G-8 group principals and we're ready to start withdrawing. The part of our army and police in the province once the bombing stops and we're ready to do it, to proceed with that withdrawal until the presence of our military and police reach the prewar level that means peace time level."
SUPER CAPTION:Vladislav Jovanovic, Yugoslav UN Ambassador
He also said that Yugoslavia will never agree to a Western demand to allow U-S, British or French troops within its borders as part of a peace agreement.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"This is our basic position that the NATO countries which are mostly exposing aggression against us such as United States, Great Britain, France and Germany cannot expect to be allowed to enter into Yugoslavia. But I say this is our basic position, what is going to be our final outcome of our talks with U-N officials on the composition of that theme, it remains to be seen. I don't expect the basis position to be altered."
SUPER CAPTION:Vladislav Jovanovic, Yugoslav UN Ambassador
Western leaders also want a complete withdrawal of Serb troops from Kosovo.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
