NATO officials accompany the Yugoslav delegation as they arrive at a NATO military base on the outskirts of Kumanovo, Macedonia RELATED VIDEO CNN's Chris Black reports from the White House on how the Clinton administration convinced Russia to join the G-8 peace effort (June 5). Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Martin Savidge reports on the latest group of Kosovo refugees to reach Albania (June 5) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K To view the latest video streams on the strikes in Kosovo, use the arrow buttons below to scroll through the video gallery.        Windows Media Real        28 K 80 K IMAGE GALLERY The many faces of refugee relief NATO off target  ALSO: Balkan family in New York opens home to 30 Kosovo refugees  THE DELUGE OF REFUGEES: Where are they going?  MESSAGE BOARD: Crisis in Kosovo  IN-DEPTH SPECIAL: Strike on Yugoslavia

June 6, 1999
Web posted at: 1:54 p.m. EDT (1754 GMT)

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KUMANOVO, Macedonia (CNN) -- Yugoslav and NATO officials took a break Sunday after nearly 10 hours of talks aimed at clarifying NATO's demands for a Yugoslav withdrawal from Kosovo.

The two sides will reconvene at 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) and "go through till the end," said Maj. Trey Cate, a NATO spokesman.

"There is very little chance," Cate said, that talks would be suspended and restarted Monday.

After two days of talks, the Yugoslavs were balking at signing the document that details a timetable and routes for the troop withdrawal, the official said.

NATO officials hope to have a six-page document outlining plans for a Yugoslav withdrawal signed by the end of the day. Lt. Gen. Michael Jackson of Britain, commander of NATO's Rapid Reaction Force, headed the negotiations for NATO: The Yugoslav military delegation was led by two deputy chiefs of staff of the Yugoslav army, Gen. Svetozar Marjanovic and Gen. Blagoje Kovacevic.

Though talks have been described as "constructive," NATO vowed to press on with its air campaign, now in its 11th week, until it sees evidence of a Serb withdrawal.

"These talks ... could take some time to conclude," said NATO spokesman Jamie Shea, "but I must stress it is in the interest of the Serbs for the signing to be as rapid as possible. The linkage is simple: We will not stop until they start, and as they are not starting their withdrawal, we are not stopping our operations."

Shea warned Yugoslav troops against "shilly-shallying or dilly-dallying" during the withdrawal, particularly for the purposes of looting as the army moves out of the Serbian province.

"Those forces will be subject to NATO air power," he said.

More than 30 NATO missiles hit targets in Kosovo over the last 24 hours, according to Serbian media, striking the cities of Pec, Prizren and Kosovo Polje.

NATO said it struck strategic targets near Vrsac, in Serbia and Pristina, Kosovo's capital. But NATO officials said they were particularly concerned with ongoing ground battles between Serb forces and Kosovo Liberation Army troops.

"The fighting isn't over yet," said NATO military spokesman Gen. Walter Jertz. "Serb forces will not halt their operations until their commanders give them the order. There is hope that will happen soon."

Serb mortar shells fell into Albania for the second day Sunday, forcing aid workers and refugees to scramble for shelter. At least one person died and several were hurt in the attack, according to Andrea Angeli, a spokesman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

While the withdrawal talks continued, NATO was "accelerating preparations for implementation of a peace agreement, and building up forces in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to be ready to enter Kosovo as soon as the Serb forces withdraw," Shea said.

Plans call for the province to be divided into five sectors, with the United States, Britain, Germany, Italy and France each overseeing a sector.

Just what role Russian forces will play in the Kosovo peacekeeping force remains unclear. Former Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, who helped broker the peace deal, said if Russian forces do participate, they will not be part of NATO's force.

About 5,000 people came to Washington on Saturday to protest NATO's air campaign

"We have not even discussed this question," he said. "Under our law and under our morality, we will never be under NATO."

NATO's decision to continue the air campaign while the peace deal is on the table didn't sit well with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.

"The main task ... is to stop bombing. After that, Russia is ready for working out the U.N. resolution, which will give the basis for post-war settlement in Yugoslavia," Ivanov said.

Correspondents Walter Rodgers, Matthew Chance and Tom Mintier contributed to this report.

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