Cohen and Sergeyev shake hands over the agreement solidifying Russia's role in Kosovo
MILITARY PLAN: RELATED VIDEO Watch the video of Sergeyev and Cohen signing the agreement Windows Media 28K  ALSO: KFOR asserts authority in Kosovo U.N. wants 2 weeks before Kosovar refugees return  MESSAGE BOARD: Crisis in Kosovo  IN-DEPTH SPECIAL: Focus on Kosovo

June 18, 1999
Web posted at: 6:24 p.m. EDT (2224 GMT)

HELSINKI, Finland (CNN) -- Negotiators from Russia and the United States reached an agreement Friday outlining how Russia will participate in the Kosovo peacekeeping mission, known as KFOR.

Defense Secretary William Cohen said Russia and the United States had reached an agreement "on terms that meet the requirements of both NATO and Russia."

"It preserves the unity of command ... and it gives Russia a unique role by providing for operations of Russian forces" within sectors controlled by NATO members.

Russian troops will serve under Russian command and control and Russians will work with NATO commanders in each of the sectors overseen by NATO allies within Kosovo, a province of Serbia.

The Pristina airport, currently under Russian control, will be opened to all nations, Cohen said.

"This agreement protects NATO's fundamental interest," including preserving a NATO chain of command, Cohen said.

The deal came on the third day of negotiations in Finland's capital between Cabinet officials from both countries. Cohen and Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev began their talks on Wednesday, while Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright joined them Thursday.

The sticking point between Russia and the West has been Russia's demand for control of a section of Kosovo along with five NATO countries. The United States and its NATO allies had maintained that a separate Russian sector would effectively partition Kosovo -- an outcome they consider unacceptable.

They were insisting that Russia be integrated into one or more of the five existing sectors, each under a NATO commander.

Spurring on the talks on was the presence of about 200 Russian troops at the airfield in Pristina, Kosovo's provincial capital. The Russian contingent arrived June 12, upstaging the NATO-led peacekeepers' entry into Kosovo and taking control of the city's airport, where the KFOR mission had planned to set up a temporary headquarters.

Since then, the troops have been holed up at the airfield, blocking NATO peacekeepers from entering the facility until the Russian role in KFOR could be determined.

Correspondent Andrea Koppel contributed to this report.

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