SLATINA, Kosovo, June 5 (AVN) - Major General Vladimir Kazantsev, commander of the Russian Military Contingent within KFOR, has met Agim Ceku, commander of the Kosovo Protection Corps, in the contingent headquarters, a spokesman for the headquarters told the Military News Agency on Tuesday.
The meeting was also attended by Colonel Anatoly Kiselev, military representative of the Russian Defence Ministry in the KFOR Staff. It happened for the first time since the contingent deployment in Kosovo at the request of the Albanian party.
Kazantsev informed Ceku on main tasks of the contingent's peacekeeping activities in Kosovo pointing out that "Russian peacekeepers are operating at the strongpoints and patrolling their areas of responsibility in accordance with their status within KFOR."
He also said that relations between the Russian peacekeepers and the Albanian population were strained and proposed Ceku "to establish closer contacts between the Russian and Albanian parties' headquarters and units" to make them better.
During the meeting the officials discussed deployment of a Russian separate helicopter squadron at the Slatina airfield. Ceku expressed his willingness to deploy Albanian helicopters at the airfield controlled by the Russian contingent. Kazantsev answered that he was not responsible for making such decisions and it had to be discussed by the NATO and Russian Defence Ministry leadership.
The meeting evidences that the majority of Albanian separatists are likely to change their tactics towards the Russian contingent, the spokesman said. In spite of full-scale confrontation with the Russian party the separatists seemed to have made the decision about gradual co-operation which will only be praised by the contingent leadership and headquarters.