International peace envoys meeting in Bonn last night appeared to be inching towards a diplomatic settlement of the Kosovo crisis based on a withdrawal of Yugoslav forces and the deployment of an international peacekeeping force in the province.
The Finnish President, Mr Martti Ahtisaari, will travel to Belgrade today as a representative of the EU, along with the Russian envoy, Mr Viktor Chernomyrdin.
The two men declined to specify the peace proposal they would present to the Yugoslav President, Mr Slobodan Milosevic. However, the US Deputy Secretary of State, Mr Strobe Talbott, who also took part in yesterday's talks, left little doubt about the daunting task they faced.
"These two gentlemen have exceedingly hard work ahead of them. The achievement of the goal we have agreed depends on hard decisions on the part of the Belgrade government."
Mr Ahtisaari's decision to travel to Belgrade followed the Yugoslav government's acceptance of the peace principles agreed by the Group of Eight (G8), the leading industrialised nations and Russia.
The G8 principles, agreed in Bonn last month, demand an end to violence and repression in Kosovo and the withdrawal of Yugoslav forces from the province.
They also call for the return of all ethnic Albanian refugees to Kosovo under the protection of an international security force.
Yugoslavia demands that such a peacekeeping force should be led by the UN and that it should not include troops from NATO countries which have been involved in the bombing. However, the Western allies insist that NATO must be at the core of any such force if it is to provide the refugees with the necessary security to return home.
Both Mr Ahtisaari and Mr Chernomyrdin hinted last night that the force would include troops from Russia and the leading NATO countries, including Britain and the US.
They declined to discuss the command structure of the force, which Western leaders would like to be led by a British general.
"We are discussing all questions that lead to a solution. But it is very important to create a relationship between a Russian presence and the alliance," said Mr Chernomyrdin.
The German Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schroder, claimed that yesterday's talks in Bonn, which continued late into the night, had made substantial progress. However, he warned against excessive expectations from today's peace mission to Belgrade.
"Nobody will break into euphoria. There is no reason for that. But there is no dispute about the fact that important progress has been made."
Mr Ahtisaari said the peace envoys had little new to offer Mr Milosevic, but he indicated that Russia, the US and the EU now agreed on most of the details of the peace plan.
"I think our task is to present an offer of peace, not only for the Yugoslav leadership but also for the people of Yugoslavia and Kosovo.
Apart from the composition and command structure of the international peacekeeping force, another potential sticking point concerns the future presence of Yugoslav forces in Kosovo.
NATO is willing to allow a force of some 5,000 Yugoslav soldiers to return to Kosovo to carry out specific tasks, such as mine clearing. However, the Belgrade government wants to deploy a force of 17,000, almost half as many Yugoslav troops as are now in the province.
Cuba yesterday called for the NATO Secretary General, Mr Javier Solana, to be tried as a war criminal. "The war against Yugoslavia is true genocide and genocide must be punished," said Foreign Minister Mr Feilpe Perez Roque. He wants Mr Solana tried "as a representative for all those guilty of war crimes."