U.S. Embassy Attack Linked To Bosnia Bombings Talbott Trying To Mend Relations With Kremlin

Russian police on Thursday deemed a grenade attack against the American Embassy an act of terrorism and stepped up security during a diplomatic fence-mending visit by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott.

Kremlin outrage over NATO air strikes against Serb rebels in Bosnia-Herzegovina had inflicted serious strain on U.S.-Russian relations, and the current atmosphere of acrimony has been linked by some politicians and observers to Wednesday’s rocket-propelled grenade blast at the embassy.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, in which no one was injured, but the Moscow district prosecutor’s office opened a criminal investigation into what it was classifying as a terrorist act.

“There are people in Russia who might have carried out such an action in response to continued bomb attacks on the Bosnian Serbs to demonstrate to the United States their readiness for the most resolute steps,” Stanislav Terekhov, the head of Russia’s Union of Officers, told Interfax, a Russian news agency.

Defense Minister Pavel S. Grachev added heat to the dispute by claiming in an interview with Interfax that the NATO bombing runs had killed 800 and wounded more than 2,000 civilians - figures far larger than any confirmed in the West.

In an unexpected show of moderation, however, vacationing President Boris N. Yeltsin vetoed laws passed by the State Duma, the lower house of Parliament, that would have required Russia to unilaterally breach U.N. sanctions against the Serbs. Yeltsin’s press service said the president nixed the measures because they contained “contradictions to international law.”

Talbott, the U.S. government’s top Russia expert, flew in for a whirlwind round of discussions with senior Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Andrei V. Kozyrev. But few details of their three-hour meeting were disclosed.

The envoy declined to say whether he thought the round fired at the embassy a day earlier was connected with the recent tensions between Moscow and Washington, and he sought to minimize those strains.

“Obviously we have some points of difference on tactics and some other issues with the Russians,” he told reporters upon his arrival for a 24-hour visit. “What is really important is what we have in common.”

Talbott said both the United States and Russia remain committed to brokering a peaceful resolution of the Balkan conflict.

Word of a NATO decision to temporarily suspend its bombing raids on the Bosnian Serbs came hours after Talbott’s talks with Kozyrev - a development likely to ease the fresh tensions between the former Cold War adversaries.