PRESIDENT Clinton has warned President Milosevic that "more empty promises or half measures" will not end the NATO air strikes.
US officials believe the Yugoslav president will move soon to try and stop the bombing which is inflicting increasing damage in Serbia and Kosovo.
This would explain why Mr Clinton laid down again the terms on which the NATO airstrikes would cease. Mr Milosevic must accept the "deployment of an international security force making it possible for all the refugees to return as we move to a political framework in Kosovo on the basis of the Rambouillet accords", Mr Clinton said.
"But more empty promises or half measures will not do the job." A "commitment to cease the killing in Kosovo devoid of its freedom and devoid of its people is not acceptable," the President said. If Mr Milosevic does not do what is necessary, "NATO will continue its air campaign. It will be undiminished, unceasing and unrelenting".
Mr Clinton insisted that "we are prepared to sustain this effort for the long haul. Our plan is to persist until we prevail".
The President also denied reports in the US media that an air campaign without the use of ground troops had been forced on the chiefs-of-staff. The Washing- ton Post, quoting military sources, reported yesterday the military chiefs had warned that bombing alone would not achieve the administration's aims and questioned the rationale for US intervention.
Mr Clinton also announced details of a stepped-up humanitarian aid campaign to be called "Operation Sustain Hope", which will include rapid transportation of food and other supplies to the refugees in Albania and Macedonia. The US will also take "up to 20,000 refugees".
But President Clinton said "ethnic cleansing cannot stand as a permanent event", indicating the refugees will be returned to Kosovo as soon as possible.
With the return of good weather to the Yugoslav region, the NATO strikes have been stepped up. The US is now anticipating that the increasing damage will force Mr Milosevic to seek a diplomatic solution by offering to end military action in Kosovo.
It is feared in Washington that such an offer may cause divisions among the 19 NATO allies on whether to continue the air strikes. This is why the President as well as the State Department and the Pentagon all insisted yesterday that the only way to end the NATO bombing is for Mr Milosevic to accept the conditions set out in the Rambouillet peace settlement, which was signed by the Kosovan Albanians but not by the Serbs.
Meanwhile, NATO diplomats said the deployment in Albania of 24 AH-64 Apache combat helicopters from the US poses problems because of the risk that Yugoslavia might strike at Albania, thus expanding the conflict. The Pentagon said on Sunday the Albanian government had already approved the deployment.
Questioned on the helicopters, NATO spokesman, Mr Jamie Shea, welcomed the US offer, but said: "NATO hasn't yet approved the deployment of the Apaches in Albania."
Kitty Holland adds: A spokesman for the British Foreign Office has rejected allegations by the leader of Fine Gael and former Taoiseach, Mr John Bruton, that the British Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook was "not making a truthful statement" when he said that no-one could have foreseen the scale of the refugee crisis in the Balkans.
When contacted by The Irish Times, the spokesman said the office was aware of Mr Bruton's statement and commented: "He's absolutely right that we could have foreseen the refugee crisis, and we did, but what we're saying is that we could not have foreseen the scale of it," he said. "It is impossible that anyone could have foreseen the severity of it. We certainly reject any allegations of lying."
He said the office would not be making any approaches to Mr Bruton to complain or to clarify its position.