U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE 95/08/18 DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

From: hristu@arcadia.harvard.edu (Dimitrios Hristu)

U.S. State Department Directory

Subject: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE 95/08/18 DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN

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FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

U.S. Diplomatic Initiative--Holbrooke Mission .............13

--Mtgs. w/President Milosevic .............................13

--Travel to Zagreb, Sarajevo ..............................13

--Contact Group Mtg. ......................................13-14

--Effects of Croatian Offensive on Discussions ............14

Dubrovnik--Mobilization of Infantry Units .................14

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[...]

Q David, could you bring us up to date on Mr. Holbrooke's travels?

MR. JOHNSON: Sure.

Q You won't be held accountable.

MR. JOHNSON: Excuse me?

Q (Inaudible)

MR. JOHNSON: He's continuing his work in the region. He met with President Milosevic for five hours on Thursday and for three hours this morning. He, himself -- meaning Mr. Holbrooke -- described these talks as frank and useful but inconclusive. Those conversations, as you know, are part of our ongoing effort to take advantage of the new situation on the ground, and try to bring the warring parties in the Balkans to the negotiating table.

He's traveled to Zagreb today for further discussions with Croatian and Bosnian officials, and he plans to go to Sarajevo after he departs Zagreb. He will participate in a Contact Group meeting to be held at a place to be determined in Europe before -- excuse me -- at the conclusion of his current round of discussions in the region.

Q You mean at his level?

MR. JOHNSON: Yes.

Q Is this the Russian proposal that the United States is responding to?

MR. JOHNSON: I'm not sure what you're referring to. Mr. Holbrooke is working on the ideas and concepts that were brought to Europe by Mr. Lake and Mr. Tarnoff.

Q And Yeltsin proposed an early meeting of the Contact Group.

MR. JOHNSON: I think it's clear that we want to consult with our Contact Group partners and allies following this round of consultations. I wouldn't draw a direct conclusion that it resulted from that, but I wouldn't steer you away from that either.

Q Are you thinking or is he inviting you to some higher-level thing -- a ministerial meeting?

MR. JOHNSON: I think that at this point we're planning to have a Contact Group meeting at the political directors' level, and that's what we're planning to have at the conclusion of Mr. Holbrooke's consultations in the region.

Q Which will be sometime next week, do you think?

MR. JOHNSON: Presumably so.

Q David, is this Croatian offensive having an adverse effect on Holbrooke's efforts?

MR. JOHNSON: It certainly isn't helping them. We've made clear, and he has made clear, to all of the parties that we do not believe that it is time now to push forward on the battlefield but to try to work together, and try to find a diplomatic solution to this conflict -- one that's durable and one that's acceptable to all of the parties.

Q (Inaudible) the Croatians telling you, "Forget it. We're in too good of a position. We've got to go forward."

MR. JOHNSON: I think we're continuing to have what we believe are productive discussions with the parties, but, as before, I'm not going to get into the details.

Q It doesn't look like you're having any effect, though. They seem to be amassing more and more troops.

MR. JOHNSON: I'll let you draw your own conclusions. I believe that we're continuing to press that, and we're continuing to urge all the parties to be restrained.

Q What's the situation currently around Dubrovnik. I understand there's up to 10,000 "troops" massed there. Have they begun to fight, and how about the Serbs? Are they coming in strength?

MR. JOHNSON: I don't have a readout on what exactly is happening on the ground. Obviously, tensions remain high. There has been continued shelling. Croatia has said it would attack the Serb forces if the shelling does not stop, and there's been the mobilization of infantry units in the area near Dubrovnik. As I said before, we're urging all sides to continue to exercise restraint.

(The briefing concluded at 1:54 p.m.) END