President Boris Yeltsin on Monday backed a United Nations decision that allowed NATO air strikes against Serb positions in Croatia and said Moscow was "outraged" by U.S. plans to lift an arms embargo against Bosnian Moslems.


Yeltsin, speaking to reporters, said: "Krajina Serbs (in Croatia) to some extent violated international agreements and launched air raids, which is inadmissible."


It was not immediately clear if Yeltsin, already knew of the NATO air raids on a Serb airfield in Croatia.But Yeltsin said Moscow's representative at the UN Security Council had been ordered to support such attacks.


"Our representative there voted for such a decision because the international community must be respected," he said.


However, in a later reaction, Foreign Minister Andrei Kosyrev commented, "We are concerned whether the scale and character of these NATO strikes were in full conformity with the UN Security Council's resolution."


The Security Council has granted NATO new powers to hit targets outside Bosnia used by Serb nationalists for the attacks on Bihac.


Earlier on Monday, British, Dutch, U.S. and French NATO warplanes launched a massive 39-plane attack on the Serb-held Udbina airfield in Croatia.


The United States earlier this month failed to persuade other members of the Security Council to abandon the arms embargo against Bosnian Moslems. But it has stopped participating in enforcement efforts on the UN arms embargo.


Yeltsin attacked the U.S. decision bitterly Monday.


"Kozyrev recently visited France. He talked to the foreign ministers of other European countries, who were also outraged by the U.S. action," he told reporters, referring to Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev.


"This is an unprecedented affair, which goes against the international community, the United Nations and the Security Council," Yeltsin said.