Belgrade Vows to Defend Itself

Yugoslavia vowed to defend itself on the eve of the release of a crucial report by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan that could give the green light for NATO airstrikes over the crisis in Kosovo. The statement of defiance after a meeting of the country’s Supreme Defense Council followed a strong warning from Russia that Western military intervention in the Kosovo conflict would cause a crisis in East-West relations. Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic called the session after emergency talks in Belgrade with Russian government envoys. As the Russians conferred with Milosevic in search of gestures that could stay NATO’s hand, nearby Balkan countries appealed to Yugoslavia to heed U.N. resolutions on ending the bloodshed in Kosovo.