"Nato and European Union embargo against Yugoslavia have force only for the member-states of these organisations and do not have any legal implications for Russia... russia will act accordingly," Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov announced after meeting US deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott here.

Talbott arrived here yesterday to discuss Kosovo crisis following the understanding reached on telephone between US President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

According to Ivanov his talks with Talbott were "important, constructive and useful", but warned: such decisions (oil embargo) could aggravate the (Kosovo) situation.

"The UN Security Council must decide sanctions and embargos and nobody should take decision which could aggravate the situation," Ivanov told a news conference after his one-and-a-half hour long meeting withTalbott.

After his over two-hour long talks with former Russian premier Viktor Chernomyrdin, also today, Talbott said his talks were in "constructive spirit and in line with the telephone conversation of the US and Russian presidents".

"The two countries will continue to work together to return the Kosovo process into the political stream," Talbott said.

Before meeting Talbott, Chernomyrdin had over an hour-long telephone talks with the US Vice-President Al Gore.

Chernomyrdin travelled to Belgrade last week to negotiate a framework plan with Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic for resolving the Kosovo crisis and now busy selling it to NATO.

The states are high for him as a breakthrough in Kosovo would lead to rise in his popularity in the run up to the parliamentary and presidential polls in Russia.

Talbott, however, pointed that differences between the two sides still remained, adding: "But our urgent and important work is continuing, and will continue."