A special air corridor will be opened up today to allow Russia's peace envoy, Mr Viktor Chernomyrdin, and his team of negotiators to fly to Belgrade at the start of a new initiative from President Yeltsin.
Mr Chernomyrdin, the former Russian prime minister, will travel to Yugoslavia following meetings with leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States, many of which do not share the strong anti-NATO views expressed by the Kremlin during the month-long bombing campaign.
In Tbilisi on Tuesday he was advised by President Eduard Shevardnadze of Georgia's plans for a peace initiative which would include a cessation of NATO bombing and the withdrawal of Yugoslav troops from Kosovo.
Unlike his Russian colleagues Mr Shevardnadze, a former Soviet foreign minister, has decided to attend NATO's 50th anniversary celebrations in Washington.
In his consultations with CIS leaders Mr Chernomyrdin has discovered that Russia is out of step with most of the other former Soviet republics on the issue of NATO and Kosovo.
Only the maverick President of Belarus, Mr Alexander Luka shenko, appears fully to support Moscow's stern anti-NATO and anti-US position.
President Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine, who met Mr Chernomyrdin yesterday, has also decided to attend the NATO celebrations, while leaders of the predominantly Islamic former Soviet republics, such as Azerbaijan and the Central Asian states, have been inclined to support Muslims from Albania.
In an interview on the independent Russian TV channel, NTV, the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, said he wished to meet Mr Chernomyrdin as soon as possible and he wanted Russia to play a role in resolving the Kosovo crisis.
Russia, Mr Blair said, was a very highly respected country. "We understand entirely its position in respect of this conflict and we hope Russia can play a part in securing the basic aim of justice for people in Kosovo," he added.
One of the major reasons for the Kremlin's hostility to NATO actions has been the feeling that it has had its nose rubbed in it by countries which, not long ago, were seen as far less powerful than Russia.
There is a very strong sentiment among Russians, from politicians to the public, that Western-style economic reforms have reduced a once-mighty force to the status of a fourth-rate power although it has enough weaponry to destroy the planet several times over.
In a separate development in Moscow yesterday, the Duma voted overwhelmingly that next month's vote on the impeachment of Mr Yeltsin should be taken on an open ballot. This is regarded as bad news for Mr Yeltsin, as deputies often break ranks with their parties to support the status quo when the ballot is secret.
EU governments have endorsed a plan to stop oil product deliveries to Yugoslavia, an EU diplomat said yesterday. EU ministers are expected to approve the proposal without debate in Luxembourg on Monday, he said.
