Defence Ministers from the United States and Russia last night signed an agreement on the role of Russian forces within the international peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, ending a tense stand-off that began when Russian troops arrived unexpectedly at Pristina airport a week ago.
The deal was agreed at the end of three days of negotiations in Helsinki as the leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) - the world's leading industrialised nations and Russia - met in Cologne for a weekend summit.
Moscow failed to achieve its main demand for a sector of its own within Kosovo and NATO will command KFor, as the peacekeeping force is known. But a Russian general will convey orders to Russian soldiers on the ground and Moscow will be represented at all levels in KFor.
"The Russian contingent will remain under the complete military and political control of the Russian side," the Russian Defence Minister, Mr Igor Sergeyev, said.
NATO forces have already divided the province into five zones controlled by British, US, French, German and Italian troops.
Under the agreement, 3,600 Russian soldiers will be deployed in Kosovo, half of them within the American zone and the rest divided between the French and German sectors. A small Russian unit, probably numbering just 150, will remain at Pristina airport but all of the peacekeeping forces will be allowed to use the airport.
The US Defence Secretary, Mr William Cohen, said the deal demonstrated the commitment shared by the US and Russia to a peaceful, secure future for Europe but he insisted that the West won all the main arguments.
"This agreement protects NATO's fundamental interests," he said.
NATO feared that a separate Russian sector could become a haven for Serbs but that ethnic Albanians would be unwilling to go there, a development that could lead to the eventual partition of Kosovo.
Arriving in Cologne yesterday, the Russian prime minister, Mr Sergei Stepashin, suggested that the Russian presence in Kosovo would reassure Serb civilians.
"There must be no double standard approach towards the settlement of the situation when some refugees are coming home while others have to flee their places. If there is a peace, it should be a peace for all," he said.
Last night's agreement lifts a cloud from above the G8 summit, allowing the leaders to focus on plans to rebuild the Balkans after the Kosovo conflict.
NATO welcomed the agreement which paved the way for Russian troops to play a "unique role".
"NATO looks forward to the participation of the Russian Federation in KFOR within a unified chain of command," the NATO Secretary General, Mr Javier Solana, said. Alliance ministers earlier ended a brief meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels where they assessed the KFOR mission.
