A retired Russian general made some explosive allegations last weekend about the NATO attack on Serbia five years ago. It was obvious that in June 1999, NATO double-crossed Yugoslavia and Russia, occupying Kosovo despite the terms agreed in the Kumanovo armistice; they never seriously intended to honor the agreement, or even UNSCR 1244. Now retired Russian general Leonid Ivashov claims his team had negotiated the original armistice, far more favorable to Yugoslavia, only to see it betrayed by a Yeltsin crony close to the Americans.
Now, the agreement he describes looks rather unlikely to have been accepted by NATO. Consider this, however. Russian troops arrived in Pristina shortly before NATO occupiers and the KLA. Someone in Moscow who ordered the deployment must have known or assumed that a deal was made with NATO to include a Russian presence. Yet not only did NATO block reinforcements for those troops, but General Jackson was given orders to shoot at the Russians by his mad superior, Wesley Clark. So either the Russians assumed too much, or there really was a deal, and NATO reneged on it once in a position of strength (i.e. in Kosovo, with the Yugoslav forces gone). Given NATO’s record of trickery, the latter is more likely. Which means that if Ivashov is right, NATO was prepared to agree to anything so long as it could get troops into Kosovo, and planned the treachery in advance.
Ivashov’s statements, reported by Belgrade daily “Politika,” can be read in Serbian here.
Here is a translation, for English-speakers:
Politika, Belgrade, April 17, 2004
The Russian military delegation that negotiated the end of the Kosovo crisis five years ago was double-crossed, retired Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov told the “Voice of Russia.”
The retired General said that the head of the Russian delegation, Viktor Chernomyrdin, changed his position overnight and unconditionally backed the American armistice proposal, because US Vice President Al Gore promised him Washington’s support in the Russian presidential election. “General Zavardin and I, members of the Russian delegation headed by President Yeltsin’s special envoy Chernomyrdin – we were cheated,” said Ivashov, and added that he and his colleagues had no choice but to resign from the delegation.
Ivashov said that he and his officers had negotiated a seven-point agreement with American officers which insisted on only half the Yugoslav security forces retreating from Kosovo. He claims that they agreed that NATO would not have the decisive role in the province, and that its troops would be deployed along the borders with Macedonia and Albania – and not the administrative line with the rest of Serbia – while Yugoslav border troops would remain in the province and filter out the returning refugees to trap the extremists in Kosovo and prevent infiltration from the outside.
Chernomyrdin initially praised the military team’s success, but fundamentally changed his opinion overnight and annulled the agreement, supporting unconditionally the American demands instead. (Tanjug)