A meeting between Chechen rebel representative and the Kremlin envoy ended here Sunday with a Kremlin pledge to continue such talks.
Akhmad Zakayev, envoy of Chechen rebel president Aslan Maskhadov, flew to Moscow from Istanbul on Sunday for talks with President Vladimir Putin's envoy to the Southern District, Vladimir Kazantsev. This the first such contacts since war resumed in the Russia's breakaway region of Chechnya two years ago.
Kazantsev described the two-hour meeting as "constructive" and vowed to continue the dialogue, Interfax said. The envoy also said such contacts would be held along with President Putin's September television speech that urged Chechen rebels to contact with his envoy and discuss the modalities of a rebel surrender.
The meeting sides expressed their "intention to seek a lasting peace in Chechnya", an aide named Maxim Fedorenko was quoted by Interfax as saying.
The two sides also discussed ways for guerrillas to lay down their weapons and begin a peaceful life, he said. Interfax also said the meeting, beginning at around 13:03 Moscow time (1030GMT) was held at Moscow's Sheremetyevo-2 international airport instead of the previously reported venue as a state. According to the Interfax, Zakayev was set to fly abroad after the meeting.
(Xinhua News Agency November 19, 2001)
