Ethnic Albanian and Serb negotiators start talks in Pristina as fighting continues. June - The UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, warned Nato that it must seek a Security Council mandate for any military intervention in the Serbian province. The UN calls for a cease-fire. September - The Serbian army continues to attack villages in the Drenica region of Kosovo. Nato takes the first formal steps towards military intervention in Kosovo.
Heavy fighting continues despite Serbian assurances that the offensive is over.
At least 36 ethnic Albanian civilians are reported to have been massacred in three separate incidents. Nato countries give the go-ahead for military action against Yugoslavia if President Milosevic does not comply with United Nations resolutions on Kosovo. Following intensive diplomatic efforts by US envoy Richard Holbrooke, Yugoslavia agrees to allow a 2,000-strong monitoring force into Kosovo to ensure it complies with UN demands, averting the immediate prospect of Nato airstrikes. November - The United States special envoy for Kosovo, Christopher Hill, says the humanitarian and security situation in the Serbian province has improved significantly in the few weeks after the Belgrade ceasefire agreement. But later in the month Nato and the US accuse both the Belgrade government and the ethnic Albanian rebels of endangering the cease-fire in Kosovo.