Russian ministers met the Yugoslav President, Mr Slobodan Milosevic, yesterday in Belgrade after Moscow warned NATO that unleashing air strikes on Yugoslavia without UN approval would overturn the entire system of international relations.
As the Russians conferred with Mr Milosevic in search of gestures that could stay NATO's hand, nearby Balkan countries appealed to Yugoslavia to heed UN resolutions on ending the bloodshed in its province of Kosovo.
However, after meeting the Russian envoys in what appeared to have been a surprise meeting, Mr Milosevic still appeared defiant. He called a session of his Supreme Defence Council after talks with the envoys, who included the Russian Foreign Minister, Mr Igor Ivanov, and the Defence Minister, Mr Igor Sergeyev.
The French Foreign Minister, Mr Hubert Vedrine, and his British counterpart, Mr Robin Cook, discussed the Kosovo crisis during snap talks in Paris late yesterday, the foreign ministry said.
Mr Vedrine spoke by telephone earlier in the day with US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright.
Mr Vedrine assessed the Kosovo crisis with his two counterparts, and discussed decisions that will have to be made next week, a spokesman for the ministry said. The ministry did not disclose any further details on Vedrine's earlier discussion with Ms Albright nor on Mr Cook's previously unannounced visit.
The US mediator, Mr Christopher Hill, is expected in Belgrade today in a fresh effort to persuade both sides to open negotiation on autonomy for Kosovo.
EU foreign ministers and NATO's policy-making North Atlantic Council also will be assessing the crisis in meetings while awaiting a pivotal report from the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan. Mr Annan was to judge whether Yugoslav authorities had sufficiently complied with a UN Security Council resolution demanding an end to fighting and momentum towards peace talks.
But the Russian government warned NATO that any raids against Yugoslavia would destroy, not foster, chances for a negotiated solution. The use of force against a sovereign state without the sanction of the Security Council would be a flagrant breach of the UN charter, it said.
The leaders of Greece, Romania and Bulgaria meanwhile voiced deep concern about a Balkan-wide backlash from NATO intervention. "Nothing that happens in Kosovo leaves us indifferent. We are neighbouring countries and we want peace [according to] the Security Council resolution," said the Romanian President, Mr Emil Constantinescu, after meeting his counterparts in Delphi, Greece.