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Putin: I'll Mediate in Election Standoff
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday he was ready to host talks between Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and opposition leader Vojislav Kostunica to resolve Belgrade's election standoff. But Yugoslav Ambassador Borislav Milosevic was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying there were "no grounds'' for Russian mediation.
A Kremlin statement issued while Putin was flying to India referred to both the two rivals as candidates in the second round of the Yugoslav presidential election.
According to the official count, Kostunica won 48.22 per cent of the votes and Milosevic 40.23 per cent, both were short of winning half of the votes and so must contest a run-off second round. The opposition reject the official results, saying he has already won outright and plan to boycott the runoff vote next Sunday.
"As president of Russia, I am prepared to receive in the next few days in Moscow both candidates who have gone through to the second round, to discuss means of finding a way out of the current situation,'' the statement said.
Putin said he was acting to guard against rising tension and the threat of "open confrontation in society fraught with unpredictable consequences'' which would jeopardize stability in the Balkans and throughout Europe.
Putin had said during the weekend that he was ready to send Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov to Yugoslavia to help resolve the standoff.
Borislav Milosevic said there remained a threat of unrest in Yugoslavia "if certain forces -- the opposition and certain circles in the West -- display irresponsibility and stir up the situation.''
He said he could not rule out the use of force by the authorities but said it would come "only in an extreme instance,'' if the opposition resorted to force.
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