(11 Jul 1998) German/Russian/Nat
The foreign ministers of Russia and Germany discussed "new, creative possibilities" on Saturday for a solution to the crisis in Kosovo.
However at a news conference after the meeting Klaus Kinkel of Germany and Yevgeny Primakov of Russia refused to elaborate on the new approaches they said they discussed.
They only stressed that possible solutions did not include a military assault on Yugoslavia.
German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel met with his Russian counterpart Yevgeny Primakov in Moscow today.
Kinkel is on a short visit to the Russian capital to discuss with Primakov the Kosovo situation, NATO proceedings, international matters and Russian-German relations.
Kinkel is seeking to persuade Russia to drop its opposition to possible military intervention in the Serbian province of Kosovo.
Kinkel told reporters that the conflict between ethnic Albanian rebels and Serbian security forces in Kosovo had worsened.
Kosovo Albanian leaders have repeatedly called on the international community to intervene in the conflict that has claimed 300 lives and uprooted as many as 80,000 people, saying they need protection from Serb forces.
At a news conference following their meeting, But they didn't say how that could be achieved.
At a joint press conference both men asserted that the international community did not support and could not support the region's sovereignty because the change of borders would not solve the problem, but only aggravate the situation.
Primakov said he agreed with Kinkel that Yugoslavia's territorial integrity must be
maintained, and that the ultimate solution for Albanians in Kosovo would be autonomy.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"The two principles of our plans are based on the fundamentals of the territorial sovereignty of Yugoslavia and the provision of some form of real autonomy to the Kosovo Albanians."
SUPER CAPTION: Yevgeny Primakov, Russian Foreign Minister
On the question of military intervention in the region, the two men stated that they would be seeking a political resolution through the Contact Group.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"And one other element in this is the purposeful work of the Contact Group who are working to guarantee these two principles."
SUPER CAPTION: Yevgeny Primakov, Russian Foreign Minister
SOUNDBITE: (German)
"Yevgeny Primakov and I have, and I think this is the main result of our meeting today, discussed new creative ways of resolving this problem
SUPER CAPTION: Klaus Kinkel, German Foreign Minister
The two countries had also agreed on the absolute urgency of the matter.
SOUNDBITE: (German)
"We are also completely agreed that we must do everything possible to find a political resolution to this conflict."
SUPER CAPTION: Klaus Kinkel, German Foreign Minister
Kinkel said that after returning to Bonn later Saturday, he would brief the European Union and the foreign secretaries of the six-nation Contact Group that coordinates international policy in the Balkans.
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