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DATE=09/30/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=RUSS/YUGO (L)

NUMBER=2-267287

BYLINE=LARRY JAMES

DATELINE=MOSCOW

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Russian President Vladimir Putin says his government is ready to take a more active role in Yugoslavia and is offering to send his foreign minister to Belgrade to help resolve the crisis stemming from last Sunday's presidential elections. Larry James has more on the Russian leader's statement in this report from Moscow.

TEXT: Mr. Putin said he is ready to send Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov to Belgrade for talks with all parties involved in the election dispute. He cautioned, however, that he would only be willing to do it with the permission of authorities in Belgrade.

///PUTIN ACT, IN RUSSIAN ESTABLISH AND FADE///

Mr. Putin said if Belgrade is willing, Russia is ready to help.

He said Russia's position is very clear - the future of Yugoslavia rests solely with the people of Yugoslavia. Mr. Putin said they must decide their own fate without outside interference.

Neither Mr. Putin nor any other Russia official has had any comment on who they believe won the first round of voting between Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and opposition candidate Vojislav Kostunica.

But visiting German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said following talks with the Russian leader here earlier this week that he and Mr. Putin shared the view that the Yugoslavs had apparently voted for democratic change. In his statement Saturday, Mr. Putin said only the central election commission or the Yugoslav court system can determine whether the election process is complete.

The Yugoslav election commission said neither candidate won the outright majority needed for victory and ordered a run-off. The opposition claimed victory and charged Milosevic forces with rigging the vote.

Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov has said the voting was carried out without any serious problems and he criticized the West for describing the vote as a fraud and calling on Mr. Milosevic to step down. On Saturday, Mr. Putin endorsed that view and challenged the Serbian opposition to contest the results of the balloting through proper channels rather than by appealing to international public opinion.

NEB/LDJ/DW/KBK