Kremlin set to ditch Serb ally

NOW feeling as cheated by the Serbs as the West, Russia indicated yesterday that it might wash its hands of its traditional Serb allies in former Yugoslavia and work more closely with the world to end the war. But Russia will only co-operate with the West if it is fully consulted and made to feel an equal partner.

President Boris Yeltsin demanded yesterday that Bosnian Serb forces withdraw from Gorazde and allow UN troops into the city. 'The conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina is at the brink of a dangerous escalation despite the energetic diplomatic efforts by Russia, taken jointly with the United Nations and other members of the international community,' he said.

Moscow's new mood became apparent when its peace envoy, Vitaly Churkin, returned on Monday and angrily denounced the Bosnian Serbs for breaking their promise to him, and to UN representatives, to stop attacking the Muslim enclave. 'We should stop any type of conversation with them,' he said. 'They are dealing with a great power and not a banana republic.'

Mr Churkin's frustration has infected his boss, the Foreign Minister, Andrei Kozyrev. On Monday he said Russia could influence the Serbs, while the West should put pressure on the Muslims. Yesterday Mr Kozyrev took a sharper tone, saying: 'We continue to get assurances from the Serbian side of their intention to stop the shelling of Gorazde and that they will not capture the city and agree on the security zones controlled by the United Nations. But in the most resolute manner, I would recommend to the Serbian side not to continue to test the patience of the world community.'

The UN commander in Bosnia, Lieutenant-General Sir Michael Rose, has accused the Bosnian Serb army of cynically exploiting peace talks to further its war aims. The world is trying to decide what to do next, mindful that two air strikes on the Serbs by Nato planes earlier this month backfired, provoking the Bosnian Serbs to further aggression.

Mr Kozyrev said he favoured a proposal from the French Foreign Minister, Alain Juppe, that the UN, European Union, Nato and Russia should work out a united position on Bosnia.

In Geneva, Lord Owen said he and the UN mediator, Thorvald Stoltenberg, would meet Mr Kozyrev in Moscow today. However at the UN, Russia's representative, Yuli Vorontsov, was cool when the Secretary-General, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, said he wanted Nato authority for air strikes, not only to protect UN troops but also the six UN-proclaimed 'safe areas' including Gorazde. Mr Vorontsov warned that this could drag the UN directly into the war.

If the administration of President Boris Yeltsin, which has discouraged the West from punishing the Bosnian Serbs, is to change its policy on former Yugoslavia, the Russian parliament must be wooed. Yesterday Mr Churkin briefed leading MPs, 'in order to help Russian politicians and the Russian nation to get a correct picture of what is happening in Bosnia-Herzegovina'.

Nothing Mr Churkin says can change the attitude of extreme nationalist deputies such as Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Alexander Nevzorov, who openly advocate a Greater Serbia - more to undermine President Yelstin than from real sympathy for the Serbs.

But moderate MPs may be open to persuasion. There is a chance that Russia and the rest of the world can co-operate so that, as Lord Owen put it, everyone is singing about Bosnia 'from the same hymn sheet'. But for that to happen, the West must be scrupulous about consulting Russia to avoid the ruffled feathers of a week ago, when Nato launched its air strikes without informing Moscow.

Douglas Hurd, page 16