Clinton addresses the International Labor Organization's annual conference
ALSO: Yugoslav forces appear to meet first withdrawal deadline

June 16, 1999
Web posted at: 5:45 a.m. EDT (0945 GMT)

In this story: Rebuilding the Balkans Albright, Cohen to go to Europe RELATED STORIES, SITES

GENEVA, Switzerland (CNN) -- U.S. President Bill Clinton arrived in Geneva on Wednesday, kicking off a week-long European tour centered around the Group of Eight economic summit, but likely to be dominated by the NATO dispute with Russia.

Clinton, accompanied by his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, his daughter Chelsea, and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright landed at Geneva's Cointin international airport just after 9 a.m. (0700 GMT).

Clinton addressed the International Labor Organization in Switzerland on Wednesday, lending his support to a convention aimed at banning the worst forms of child labor.

The measure is expected to be passed by all 174 ILO members later this week.

Clinton will fly to Paris on Wednesday night for talks with President Jacques Chirac in advance of Friday's opening G-8 session in Cologne, Germany.

Discussions among the leaders of the world's seven richest nations -- the United States, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Canada and Japan -- and Russia will focus on reconstruction of the Balkans in the wake of the 78-day NATO bombing campaign.

For the first two days of the summit, Russia will be represented by Sergei Stepashin, its prime minister.

President Boris Yeltsin will attend the summit on Sunday and is also scheduled to meet privately with Clinton to discuss Russia's peacekeeping role in Kosovo

NATO's victory over Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has been clouded by the alliance's dispute with the Russia, which sent a convoy of troops into Kosovo ahead of NATO peacekeepers.

U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen is in Helsinki Wednesday to meet Russian officials and search for a way out of the impasse.

Pentagon officials say Russian military officials appear ready to accept NATO's chain of command, but many details still have to be worked out. NATO hopes to hammer out an agreement with Russia by Sunday.

Meanwhile, the troops remain in control of Pristina's airport, the site where NATO planned to establish the headquarters of its 50,000-member force.

Before Clinton's departure, Albright downplayed the dispute with Russia.

"President Clinton will go to Europe with confidence that we did the right thing in supporting NATO's effort to halt and reverse ethnic cleansing in Kosovo," Albright told reporters.

"Our focus now is on the even harder job of winning the peace."

Clinton will stay in Germany on Monday to meet with European Union leaders in Bonn, where talks on providing economic aid to war-torn Balkans will continue.

The president is expected to fly to Slovenia later Monday for an overnight stay before returning to the United States.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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