Delegation eyes end of Kosovo conflict

Mark D. Preston

Tuesday, May 4, 1999 | 9:30 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jim Gibbons is part of a bipartisan congressional delegation that will announce a proposal today that they say will not only end the Yugoslav conflict but also stop a resurgence of the Cold War.

Gibbons, R-Nev., returned from Vienna, Austria, Sunday night after spending the weekend negotiating with Russian lawmakers over how to end NATO airstrikes on Yugoslavia and repatriate ethnic Albanians to Kosovo.

Ten U.S. congressmen and three high-ranking officials from the Russian Duma -- the equivalent to the U.S. House -- were present at the talks.

The American and Russian lawmakers agreed on a multitier proposal that would end NATO's bombing and stop the slaughter of the Albanians by the Serb army. Gibbons said he thinks the meetings helped ease the concerns many Russian lawmakers have about U.S. and NATO foreign policy.

"Russia is very, very distressed by the (bombing)," Gibbons said. "They were prepared, when they talked to us, to recommend to their military to get involved on behalf of the Yugoslav Army."

Gibbons, who serves on both the House Armed Services Committee and House Select Intelligence Committee, said the meeting served not only to try to end the conflict, but also to restore Russian confidence in the U.S.

"I think when we left our meeting on Sunday, the Russian delegation and the U.S. delegation felt we had put off a reignition of the Cold War," he said.

Gibbons said the Russians have already delivered the proposal to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who appears receptive to the plan's framework. The proposal's main planks include ending NATO's bombing campaign on Yugoslavia, allowing ethnic Albanians to return to Kosovo and having international peacekeeping forces in Kosovo.

The agreement also calls for the Russian Duma and U.S. Congress to continue to work together to resolve the situation. Gibbons and other U.S. negotiators will brief their congressional colleagues and White House officials today about the weekend meetings.