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Russia Defends Hosting Yugoslav Defense Chief
Russia on Wednesday refuted the United States' dissatisfaction over its hosting of Yugoslav Defense Minister Dragoljub Ojdanic earlier this month. Moscow does not recognize the decision of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia which has blamed some Yugoslav statesmen for committing war crimes, the Interfax news agency quoted Russian military-diplomatic sources as saying.
Their remarks were apparently a response to Washington's displeasure with Dragoljub Ojdanic's visit to Moscow. Richard Boucher,the U.S. State Department spokesman, told a news briefing that Washington will "raise this on an urgent basis."
The Moscow Times reported Wednesday that Ojdanic arrived in Moscow on May 7, the day Russian President Vladimir Putin was inaugurated and left unhindered five days later after meeting top Russian defense officials and taking in the Victory Day parade. "Yugoslavia is a sovereign state and Russia has the right to develop relations with it, including in the military sphere," Interfax quoted the military-diplomatic sources as saying. However, the sources insisted that "Russia fulfills all of its commitments stipulated in the U.N. Security Council resolution on Yugoslavia."
At the end of last year, the Russian Foreign Ministry described as "politically motivated" the decision by prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia to sign an indictment on five top political and military leaders of Yugoslavia, including the Yugoslav and Serb presidents.
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