Zakayev: Peace talks ended, failing to startRuslan Isayev, North Caucasus - Peace talks on the termination of the war in Chechnya, held with Russian President's envoy in the Southern Federal Region Viktor Kazantsev, ended before they actually started, Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov’s envoy Akhmed Zakayev told me in a telephone interview.
As Mr. Zakayev claimed, currently there are practically no contacts between him and Mr. Kazantsev. He added every new day of the war in Chechnya, bringing dozens of victims among civilians as well as Russian soldiers, makes the hope for the negotiations increasingly more visionary. President Maskhadov shares this opinion, added Mr. Zakayev.
In Zakayev's view, Russian leaders are not willing to launch negotiations, hoping Chechen fighters will lay down arms. However, this is a wrong idea, the Chechen representative said, reiterating that Chechen leaders are ready to launch peace talks without any preliminary conditions.
On November 18, 2001, there was a meeting between Zakayev and Kazantsev at international airport Sheremetyevo-2 in Moscow, but it brought no results. |
