Ambassador Hill pointed out that he was in Kosovo yesterday, September 15, and will be back there September 17, that he is staying in very close touch with the members of the negotiating team, with Kosovar Albanian leader Dr. Ibrahim Rugova and with members of the Contact Group, including the Russians.

Responding to a question concerning the Russians' participation in the negotiating process, Hill said, "We have continued to work very closely with the Russians. The Russians are very active participants in the diplomatic monitoring observer mission, and there the Russians have formulated some, I think, very good ideas for trying to deal with the humanitarian situation.

"Let me state more generally that we continue to work very closely with all the members of the Contact Group. We brief very regularly in Belgrade and elsewhere to try to remain fully engaged and pulling as one team. I must say, as someone who worked on the issues in Bosnia, I can tell you that the sense of unanimity among the Contact Group is stronger than I've seen it before." As for Hill himself, he said that "the U.S. is working on three tracks: the humanitarian issues, the political settlement, and, as possible, military contingencies. I'm very much focused on the political and negotiating track, and that's what I was talking to the NAC about today."

He reminded the press, "As you've heard many times, we very much support the idea of a political solution. I must say it's a search for peace that's been made extremely difficult by the on-going violence on the ground, the continued numbers of displaced people and the fact that time is growing short, and fall weather has already set in in Kosovo and will soon be followed by winter."

Let me just say I came hear today to join Deputy Secretary Talbott in briefing and discussing the current situation in Kosovo. I was just there yesterday at some meetings with Dr. Rugova, some members of the negotiating team. I also talked to our diplomatic observers and flew directly from Kosovo here. So I used the occasion here to update people on where we are on what continues to be a very difficult negotiating process. As you know, the U.S. is working on three tracks: the humanitarian issues, the political settlement, and, as possible, military

contingencies. I'm very much focused on the political and negotiating track, and that's what I was talking to the NAC about today. The process is continuing to go forward.

We have been discussing specific elements of a settlement. We certainly have a tremendous number of problems ahead, but I do believe we have a process that is at least aimed in the right direction -- if it's not going at the speed that all of us would like. Tomorrow I plan to go back to Kosovo and to sit down with the negotiating team and get their reaction -- their very specific written reactions -- to some of the ideas that we've proposed, and then later at the beginning of next week, I would plan to go up to Belgrade and discuss some of those and continuing the process. As you've heard many times, we very much support the idea of a political solution. I must say it's a search for peace that's been made extremely difficult by the on-going violence on the ground, the continued numbers of displaced people and the fact that time is growing short, and fall weather has already set in in Kosovo and will soon be followed by winter.

The people who are participating in the negotiations are people who are from the parties that participated in Dr. Rugova's structures, that is, his parliamentary elections that took place earlier this spring. There is a group of people who chose not to participate in the negotiations. The door has been left open to them. They certainly have not been excluded, and they've been welcome to join. We would hope that they will want to join. I must say, we have kept them informed on where we are, and we hope that they will see that this is the best way to try to bring some peace and stability to Kosovo.

The team that Dr. Rugova announced earlier in August is the team that we're dealing with led by Dr. Agani.

I highlighted some of the problems, both in terms of the humanitarian situation and also the problems of the negotiations and what we might do to try to pick up the pace in resolving, or addressing, both of those situations.

I think all of the members of the Contact Group, including the Russians, have been equally concerned, and appalled, frankly, by the violence on the ground and especially the destruction of the villages you mentioned. It is hard to drive now from Pristina...(inaudible)...which is a space of 90 kilometers without seeing a lot of destruction in every single village. We have continued to work very closely with the Russians. The Russians are very active participants in the diplomatic monitoring observer mission, and there the Russians have formulated some, I think, very good ideas for trying to deal with the humanitarian situation. Let me state more generally that we continue to work very closely with all the members of the Contact Group. We brief very regularly in Belgrade and elsewhere to try to remain fully engaged and pulling as one team. I must say, as someone who worked on the issues in Bosnia, I can tell you that the sense of unanimity among the Contact Group is stronger than I've seen it before.

We have tried to brief the countries in the region because they are the ones most effected by the situation, and I think we should do more of that. I think that all the countries of the region need to keep a very active diplomacy. Romania has been very active on this. I've met some of your senior officials who've come through Skopje, and we've had the opportunity to discuss the situation. I mean, ultimately, the countries of the region are going to have to take a very active role in seeing whether they can provide this sort of stability and a role in trying to get more security. Later this month, in Skopje, there will be something called the Southeastern Europe Defense Ministerial, to which Romania is invited. They will be discussing military areas of cooperation in the region, so I'm sure the subject of the ongoing instability in Kosovo will be raised.

We are working on an agreement which would establish institutions for democracy and to establish the conditions for normal life in Kosovo, and we need agreements that are supported by a broad range of people whatever organizations they're in, and we're pushing very hard on all of that.

(Transcript: Press statement 16, September 1998)