Three hundred and twenty six deputies voted in favour of the non-binding resolution and 46 opposed it, with no abstention.

Last Monday Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic had written to Yeltsin, requesting him to admit Yugoslavia to the union of Russia and Belarus, the two Slavic neighbours.

Only the liberal Yabloko faction, led by Grigory Yavlinsky, opposed the resolution, describing it as ``political opportunism''.

The proposals for Yugoslavia to join the union of Russia and Belarus were creating ``the possibility of a real military confrontation'' between the nuclear states, Yavlinsky said.

He accused Yugoslavia of provoking Russia to come into conflict not only with the West but also with the whole Islamic world, which could, according to him,lead to Moscow's international isolation.

Parliamentary Speaker Gennady Seleznev slammed the criticisms of the opponents of the union that it will drag Russia militarily into the Yugoslav conflict.

``It's not true. We want now to create a union as a new type of formation, involving Russia, Belarus and Yugoslavia. It's a political initiative of the three states, designed to stop the war,'' Seleznev said.

Yeltsin had cautiously reacted to the Yugoslav proposal, saying it needed further examination. Yeltsin's press secretary Dmitry Yakushkin said admitting Yugoslavia in such a union would involve several ``extremely complicated and delicate'' questions that would take months to resolve.

Meanwhile, Chernomyrdin, whom Yeltsin this week appointed his special envoy to deal with the Kosovo crisis, has so far not publicly reacted to the proposal. His `Our Home Is Russia' faction in the Duma voted in favour of the union.

However, factional leader Vladimir Ryzhkov argued during the debate that such a unionshould be formed only after the Yugoslav conflict came to an end.

In his effort to find a solution to the Kosovo crisis, Chernomyrdin held talks in Moscow today with Yugoslav, American and French ambassadors, according to Russian media reports. No details were given on the nature of the parleys.