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Drop slogans, do business, Kremlin tells Chechens
November 19, 2001
By Andrei Shukshin
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian special envoy said Monday it was up to rebel Chechens to make the next move after ground-breaking talks over the weekend, but he called on them to drop their rhetoric and make concrete proposals.
Viktor Kazantsev, presidential envoy for southern Russia, held a two-hour meeting Sunday near Moscow with Akhmed Zakayev, representative of Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov.
It was the first publicly acknowledged meeting between the Kremlin and the rebels since the war began two years ago.
Kazantsev told a news conference Monday there were some positive moments in Sunday's meeting, but Zakayev's proposals "were more like slogans and stereotypes."
The rebels had made no concrete response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's call Sept. 24 for talks to find ways to disarm illegal armed groups and reintegrate them into civilian life.
Kazantsev said Maskhadov's supporters had shown signs of being willing to respond to Putin's offer, but were not yet ready to take concrete steps.
"If they are going to propose conversations of a theoretical nature, then it's not clear if there's any point in continuing," Kazantsev said. "Let's first wait for real, concrete proposals."
He said they were also under pressure from two rebel commanders in the field, Shamil Basayev and Jordanian-born Khattab.
KREMLIN CHANGES TACK
Despite Kazantsev's caution, political analysts said the talks showed the Kremlin now realized it could not hope to rule Chechnya without the rebels.
"The military operation has come to its logical end and the only other option was to leave (Chechnya) as an ever-bleeding wound," said Igor Bunin, director of the Center for Political Technologies.
"By choosing to talk, Moscow has demonstrated that all other bets are off."
Putin, often criticized abroad for refusing to negotiate in Chechnya, is thought keen to remove the conflict as an irritant in Russia's relations with the West.
Analysts said Putin's concern about his image in the West might have played a role in the decision to launch talks but that it was secondary to the need to stop the bloodshed. Russian continues to suffer casualties an almost daily basis.
Bunin said Moscow had simply run out of options given the unpopularity of its hand-picked local leader Akhmad Kadyrov.
"The talks with Maskhadov is a way to slowly and gradually legalize some of the rebels so as to include them in the political process later on," Bunin said.
"It does not mean that Kadyrov will have to go but it does mean that (the Kremlin) is trying to build a bridge to the rebel camp," he said, adding that how far this bridge could go was not clear as Maskhadov had little clout with die-hard guerrillas.
Russian officials have repeatedly dismissed Maskhadov as a weakling who does not control key rebel warlords.
KREMLIN STRATEGY
Maskhadov, who led Chechen forces to a victory over Russian troops in the first 1994-96 Chechen war, has continuously offered to negotiate with Moscow to end the second campaign, which Russia launched in October 1999 to regain control of the region.
Sergei Markov, head of the Institute of Political Studies, said the Kremlin's strategy aimed to de-couple the moderate Maskhadov from Basayev and Khattab.
"Maskhadov will step out of the fight," said Markov, who is seen as being close to the Kremlin. "He is unlikely to switch to the Russian side but he could take a neutral position and say he will be ready to take part in a future free election."
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