U.S. General To Lead Soldiers From Russia Deal Keeps Peacekeepers In Bosnia Out Of Nato’s Hands

In an elaborate face-saving solution, the non-combat soldiers Russia has agreed to contribute to a Bosnian peacekeeping force would serve under Gen. George Joulwan in his capacity as U.S. commander, rather than NATO commander, according to an agreement announced here Friday.

Joulwan, who is based in Brussels, wears two hats - that of commander of U.S. forces in Europe and that of NATO’s top commander. For the Russian operation, a Russian general, Leonti P. Shevtsov, would serve as the American general’s deputy.

A written order “would not have on its letterhead the word ‘NATO,”’ Gen. Pavel S. Grachev, Russia’s defense minister, said at a joint news conference here with his U.S. counterpart, William Perry.

Russian troops would not be concentrated in only one sector of the country.

President Clinton and President Boris Yeltsin agreed in their summit meeting Monday that they would find a way to use Russian support troops in Bosnia, but no agreement has been reached on how Russian combat troops could serve in the main peacekeeping force.

The defense officials were here to watch Russian and U.S. units participate in a joint peacekeeping exercise, a training mission widely seen as a dry run for a force to police any peace agreement in Bosnia.

“Russia and the U.S. will each contribute several thousand military personnel to a multinational special operations unit,” Perry said.

The lightly armed, mixed units would start performing engineering, transport and construction tasks one month after the arrival of heavily armed peacekeeping units from the United States and Western Europe.

The combat force would implement a peace agreement that is expected to be negotiated by the warring parties next month.

Yeltsin, wants to contribute combat units to the peacekeeping force, but he rejects NATO command.

“The question is how to serve with NATO, but not under NATO,” a senior Defense Department official explained here Friday. “In Russia, NATO is associated with the Cold War. It is very hard for Russians to serve under NATO.”

A meeting was scheduled in Brussels in two weeks on the issue of Russian combat troops in Bosnia.

Friday, Russian military officials said that they would like to send 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Bosnia, about 10 times the number they maintain there now as part of a U.N. peacekeeping force. The U.S. Defense Department official said he expected the figure would be lower.

The ability to pay further hampers Russia’s ability to influence events in the Balkans. The U.S. official said that payment terms for Russian participation had not been worked out, but he added that “transportation, construction - some or all of their tasks would be candidates under the reconstruction fund.”

A multi-billion-dollar fund for rebuilding Bosnia is to be formed when and if a peace accord is achieved.

Friday, before Perry and Grachev left by helicopter for a wind-whipped training site, both predicted continued cooperation.