MOSCOW SAYS NO PARTICIPATION FOR KOSOVO REBELS.

On June 30, Russia restated its opposition to participation by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in talks aimed at ending the bloodshed in Kosovo. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vladimir Rakhmanin said that the Kosovo Albanian side should be represented only by groups associated with the moderate leader Ibrahim Rugova in proposed talks with Yugoslav authorities in Belgrade. (Russian agencies, June 30) The Russian statement comes as the United States has reportedly come to consider offering KLA leaders a place at the peace talks. That stance is reportedly the result of a rapid growth both in the political strength of the KLA in Kosovo and in the percentage of Kosovo’s territory controlled by the KLA. (The Washington Post, July 1)

APPARENT GOOD NEWS FOR RUSSIAN ARMY.