Peace Plan Highlights | Photo Gallery | Strike Assessment | News Video Archive | Strike at a Glance | Who's Who | Roots of the Conflict | Story Archive | Links | Discussion

Annan : 'It is indeed tragic that diplomacy has failed'
RELATED VIDEO
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan comments late Wednesday on the NATO action
Windows Media	28K

Russia suspends NATO cooperation

March 24, 1999
Web posted at: 6:16 p.m. EDT (1816 GMT)

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Wednesday he understood why force might have had to be used in Kosovo but emphasized that the U.N. Security Council needed to be involved in any decision to use it.

As an emergency session of the Security Council began, Annan told reporters, "It is indeed tragic that diplomacy has failed, but there are times when the use of force may be legitimate in the pursuit of peace.

"But as secretary-general I have many times pointed out, not just in relation to Kosovo, that under the (U.N.) Charter, the Security Council has primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. This is explicitly acknowledged in the North Atlantic Treaty."

Annan's statement, made after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) began bombing Yugoslavia on Wednesday evening, appeared to back the Russian position that any military action must have prior council approval.

Russia suspends NATO cooperation

Russian President Boris Yeltsin pulled Russia out of its partnership with NATO Wednesday and called for the emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council, warning of possible further steps to protest the airstrikes against Yugoslavia.

Yeltsin pulled Russia out of its partnership with NATO on Wednesday

"Russia is deeply upset by NATO's military action against sovereign Yugoslavia, which is nothing more than open aggression," Yeltsin said.

If the conflict grows, his statement continued, Russia reserves the right to take "adequate measures, including of a military character, to ensure its own and general European security." The statement did not elaborate.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov was quoted by Interfax as saying "the country which is attacked must have weapons to defend itself."

Yeltsin spoke after he failed to persuade U.S. President Bill Clinton, in a last-ditch appeal, not to take a "tragic step."

Yeltsin announced that Russia was halting cooperation with NATO and pulling out of the alliance's Partnership for Peace, a program designed to promote military and political cooperation between the West and former Soviet bloc countries.

He ordered the recall of Russia's chief military envoy to NATO, Lt. Gen. Viktor Zavarzin, and the closure of Russia's offices at NATO headquarters in Belgium.

Yeltsin earlier spoke with Clinton on the phone, and then appeared on national television. He said it was "incomprehensible" that NATO would attack without authorization from the U.N. Security Council.

Yeltsin appeared briefly on Russian television calling the decision to strike Yugoslavia a "tragic mistake."

Russia, which has warm relations with fellow Orthodox Christian Serbia, has steadfastly opposed the use of force against Yugoslavia, saying it risked triggering a wider conflagration in the Balkan region.

Throughout the day Wednesday, a stream of Russian leaders predicted a NATO attack would only escalate the conflict in the Balkans and undermine Moscow's relations with the West, which have warmed in the post-Soviet era.

Russia has given no sign that it wants to get involved militarily in Yugoslavia, though Russia's foreign minister hinted that Moscow may push for the lifting of the U.N.- mandated arms embargo against the country. Russia might even consider withdrawing from the arms embargo unilaterally, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said.

Despite Russia's opposition to NATO strikes, its options appear limited by its reduction in military strength and economic power since the Cold War.

Most of its partnerships with the West were put together to help Moscow cope with its messy transition to democracy and a market economy. Russia would lose the most if the partnership agreements were broken.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.