MOSCOW, Sept. 8 -- Russian President Boris Yeltsin said Friday NATO airstrikes on Bosnian Serbs demonstrate why Russia opposes the alliance's eastward expansion, and that continued raids could result in Russia sending more than just humanitarian aid to its Serb allies. 'The longer it (NATO bombing) goes on the more we'll help...maybe if such actions continue, things will become much hotter.' Yeltsin said in loud, strident tones, thumping the table with his index finger at a Kremlin press conference. In Russian, 'hotter' indicates military action, making this Yeltsin's strongest hint to date that Russia could supply arms to the Serbs or perhaps become directly involved to counter NATO force. Yeltsin coupled his criticism for the strikes with strong statements against the alliance's eastward expansion, saying the airstrikes demonstrate the dangers of a powerful military block in Europe. 'This is a major political blunder being made by those insisting on NATO expansion,' Yeltsin said, 'The result will be the flames of war across Europe, there are no two opinions about it.' Yeltsin told journalists the bombing justified Russia's fears of the alliance. 'That is the reason I am against NATO expansion, this is the first sight of what will happen...when NATO comes close to the borders of the Russian Federation.' Responding to the broadside, NATO reiterated its intention to expand eastward and pointed out that the airstrikes in Bosnia merely implement U.N. decisions. 'It remains the case that the alliance expects to reach democratic states to our east,' a spokesman at NATO headquarters in Brussels said.
'This process will be an evolutionary one, taking into account European security as a whole. Enlargement of NATO will not be directed against any other state, but will enhance security for all countries without drawing any new dividing lines.' He said Russia 'has a vital role to play in Europe and European security, and we fully recognize that.' The spokesman said NATO's attacks against Bosnian Serbs are fully consistent with resolutions passed by the U.N. Security Council, adding that 'their purpose remains to make the Serbs stop threatening the safe areas.' Yeltsin blasted NATO, saying the alliance 'has shown what it is capable of' and 'is ready only to bomb, and then count the losses among the civilian population.' Yeltsin repeated Serb claims that the raids have killed many civilians, although independent reports have not confirmed this. Yeltsin also expressed bewilderment about why the United States plays such a large role in European Security issues, saying Europeans should 'solve the Bosnian crisis themselves without dictations from across the ocean.' The Russian press has targeted Washington for masterminding the airstrikes, and opposition lawmakers have asked Yeltsin to sack Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev for not better asserting Russia's pro-Serb position in the Balkans. Russia began sending aid to the former Yugoslavia in August to help Serb refugees after Croatia reconquered Krajina, and Yeltsin on Thursday signed a law to send more aid to the Bosnian Serbs. Yeltsin said historic Russian-Serbian relations meant 'we have to respond adequately and we have to be helping the Serbs.' The Russian government, nationalist legislatures and most of the press see the Bosnian Serbs as just one of three sides in a civil war, and lately the innocent victims of Western military power. Yeltsin said the Bosnian Serbs were being punished by NATO for responding to provocations by the mostly Muslim Bosnian government and Croatia. 'Why is it only the Serbs are being punished?' Yeltsin said. 'Why aren't those being punished who have engaged in provocative actions? The Serbs have been provoked, then they respond, then they are punished. 'The U.N. Security Council never met (to specifically order the airstrikes), Russia was never consulted. These bombings are inadmissible.' Yeltsin repeated calls for a peaceful solution in Bosnia, saying an agreement could be reached if Russia, Germany and the United States work together. Yeltsin proposed each of the major powers would work with the side he said each favors; Russia with the Serbs, the United States with the Bosnian Muslims and Germany with the Croatians.
