Communist and nationalist deputies of the State Duma, the Russian parliament's lower house, on Thursday accused Viktor Chernomyrdin, Yeltsin's special envoy to the Balkans, of having betrayed Yugoslavia in order to cut a deal with NATO.

The accusations were made after news that Serbia's parliament had approved a NATO-backed peace plan for resolving the Kosovo conflict reached Moscow.

Chernomyrdin met Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade on Thursday, and shortly afterward, Serbian lawmakers voted on the peace plan.

"Chernomyrdin is negotiating and, from what we hear, he is betraying the interests of Yugoslavia," Yury Nikiforov, a Communist Party deputy, said. "That is why [parliament] must vote 'no confidence' in Chernomyrdin."

"Chernomyrdin is surrendering Yugoslavia," ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky-leader of the Liberal Democratic Party-said.

The Duma is planning to hold a non-binding no-confidence vote on Chernomyrdin-but only after it hears from several senior military and political figures.

Since none were available Thursday, the vote has been put off until Friday at the earliest.