Kozyrev Warns U.S. On Bosnia Embargo

Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev warned the United States on Tuesday that any unilateral attempt to lift a UN arms embargo against Bosnian Moslems could lead to "a global confrontation."Kozyrev said that Russia would not support lifting sanctions against the Serbs but that Moscow would be "ready to go as far as necessary, including political confrontation" in case of violations of international sanctions. "If each of the great powers unilaterally supports its clients, it could result in a war, not just a war in the former Yugoslavia, but a global confrontation," The Associated Press quoted Kozyrev as telling Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic in Moscow. The Russian foreign minister was referring to a vote by the U.S. House of Representatives telling Washington it should allow the flow of arms into Bosnia to give Moslem forces the ability to defend themselves on an equal footing with the better-armed Serbs. While Kozyrev had harsh words for the U.S. lawmakers, he also cautioned Karadzic that Russia would only support the Bosnian Serbs if they adhered to an internationally brokered peace plan for the division of former Yugoslavia."Russia will not support them if they choose war," Kozyrev said, according to Interfax. He added that "the Bosnian Serbs can count on the firm support and assistance of Russia if they accept" the plan, proposed by Russian, U.S., European and UN officials at a meeting in Geneva last month. Under the plan, the Serbs, who make up about 30 percent of the Bosnian population, would receive control of 49.1 percent of Bosnian territory. Kozyrev called this a fair share. At present the Serbs control about 70 percent of Bosnia.Hardline nationalists in Russia's parliament appeared certain to use the occasion of last week's vote in the U.S. House to demand that Russia unilaterally lift UN economic sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro.A spokesman for ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic Party said he was "100 percent certain" that Zhirinovsky would call for a vote on lifting sanctions when the State Duma reconvenes Wednesday.When the U.S. Senate passed a motion aimed at arming Bosnia's Moslems in May, the State Duma responded the next day by calling on the Russian government to lift sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro. But President Boris Yeltsin, not legally bound to fulfill the Duma's resolutions on foreign policy matters, has ignored the resolution. Last week's 244-178 vote in U.S. House in favor of allowing arms sales to Bosnia was a strong sign of U.S. lawmakers' frustration with the UN's handling of the crisis."Let us be clear," The Associated Press quoted Representative Susan Molinari as saying during the session. "The United Nations have failed these people."But the vote will have no binding force unless the U.S. Senate agrees to a similar motion. This seems unlikely, given that the Senate's motion passed by only one vote in May. That 50-49 decision became possible only after eight senators changed their minds when the body approved a parallel measure requiring the U.S. government to ask its NATO allies and the UN before actually allowing arms sales to Bosnia. President Bill Clinton is reportedly ready to lobby hard against the Senate ever passing a vote in favor of lifting the embargo, a fact Kozyrev noted Tuesday when he said that "besides the legislators, there are also the U.S. president and his administration."