Yugoslavia has said it accepts the Group of Eight principles for a peace deal in Kosovo, following talks between Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and Russian envoy, Mr Viktor Chernomyrdin, in Belgrade. The White House responded cautiously, insisting words must be backed up by actions. But later the State Department spokesman said: "We would welcome steps toward acceptance of NATO's terms and conditions and look forward to hearing from Mr Chernomyrdin about the results of the meeting."
Yugoslavia "accepts the general principles of the G8 and agrees that the UN Security Council should adopt a resolution in line with the United Nations Charter," said a statement, broadcast by the official Serb RTS television network.
Mr Chernomyrdin said he was "very pleased" by the talks.
But there was no indication from the statement that Mr Milosevic had dropped his objections to the West's insistence on a heavily armed international security force with NATO at its core.
Mr Chernomyrdin said at the end of a day-long meeting with Mr Milosevic that he was almost sure he would return next week with the EU envoy, President Matti Ahtisaari of Finland.
"I'm very pleased with this visit. We spoke in great detail about all our business, about where we stand in our negotiations," the former Russian prime minister told Russian reporters on his departure from Belgrade. "We face the most difficult negotiations in the next few days," he added.
Russia and Belgrade "stated that it was in the common interest to reach a peaceful solution to the crisis in Kosovo."
The G8 principles, worked out in Bonn in May, need to be backed by a UN Security Council resolution. They provide for: an end to oppression in Kosovo; the withdrawal of Serbian forces from the province and the deployment of an international security "presence"; the return of ethnic Albanian refugees, the setting up of an interim administration; and the opening of Serb-Kosovan talks on the province's future.
Other responses to this development were conditioned by Mr Milosevic's history of accepting negotiating principles, and then either balking at details later, or simply breaking any agreements reached.
Meanwhile, Washington's Balkans envoy Deputy Secretary of State, Mr Strobe Talbott, said yesterday he was "appalled" by comments made by Mr Chernomyrdin that Russia should walk out of Kosovo peace efforts if NATO did not stop bombing Yugoslavia.
The comments, in a signed Washington Post article (see opposite page), appeared to indicate that Russia was preparing for the failure of its bid to negotiate an end to the conflict and dissociate itself from further action by the Western powers.
Mr Talbott said the indictment of Mr Milosevic on war crimes charges this week would "crystallise" the issues but would not make Mr Chernomyrdin's task easier.
Meanwhile the Pentagon yesterday confirmed that the US Secretary of Defence, Mr William Cohen, made an unannounced trip to Bonn where he met European defence ministers on Kosovo.
Russian Prime Minister Mr Sergei Stepashin said the fate of the diplomatic mission hinged on Mr Chernomyrdin's visit yesterday to Belgrade.
"After Chernomyrdin's return we shall definitely be able to answer the question of whether further political dialogue is possible or whether Yugoslavia will be sucked into a ground war," Mr Stepashin said.
NATO diplomatic sources said that if Mr Chernomyrdin failed to secure Mr Milosevic's acceptance of non-negotiable demands on Kosovo, Russia would have to decide its future role. But the two toughest issues unresolved between NATO and Russia were the structure, mandate and command structure of the proposed international security force for Kosovo, which NATO calls KFOR and insists on commanding, and the NATO demand for the withdrawal of all Serb forces.
The Russians want a UN-led force and they believe some Serb troops must be allowed to stay on in Kosovo.
Helen Kinghan adds from Brussels:
The indictment by the UN War Crimes Tribunal of Mr Milosevic and four of his top aids for crimes against humanity on Thursday was welcomed by NATO whose spokesman, Mr Jamie Shea said: "This is a decision that underscores that what NATO is doing is right. "We hope that this decision by Justice Louise Arbour, may change the way that the people of Yugoslavia feel about allowing their future to be tied to the actions of one leader and the small group around him, that have aided and abetted his crimes."
Yesterday NATO increased the pressure on Mr Milosevic, carrying out over 310 strike sorties with 792 aircraft in the air during the 24-hour period. NATO aircraft also hit ground forces in Kosovo hard, destroying an armoured personnel carrier, two mortar positions and two multiple rocket launcher systems.
The Serbian ground forces were also under attack by the KLA, who for the first time, carried out a major offensive against the units that have been shelling into Albania.