Serbs Offer Kosovo Negotiations

BELGRADE: Slobodan Milosevic didn't survive this long through brute force alone: After yesterday's NATO fly-by to encourage the Serb leader to end his aggression in Kosovo, Milosevic today emerged from a meeting with Boris Yeltsin talking compromise. Although he gave no specific response to NATO demands, he offered to hold peace talks with ethnic Albanian leaders from Kosovo. "Milosevic is an expert in exploiting disagreements within the Western camp and their general reluctance to intervene," says TIME reporter Dejan Anastasijevic. "He will back off, but only slightly -- enough to leave the international community wondering what to do next as the situation in Kosovo continues to deteriorate." NATO has been struggling to muster the political will to act against a defiant Milosevic; they may find it even harder to act against a sweet-talking Milosevic.