Russian Speaker Against Negotiations With Chechen Terrorists And Separatists

Yegor Stroyev, the Chairman of the Federation Council (the upper house of the Russian parliament), bluntly opposes the negotiations with Chechen terrorists and separatists with blood on their hands. According to him, there should be no compromises with terrorists among whom he mentioned Aslan Maskhadov, the leader of Chechen renegades, and Shamil Basayev, the notorious Chechen warlord. "Negotiations should be based on reason and respect for national peculiarities of the Chechen people," Yegor Stroyev. In this connection he welcomes the coming negotiations between Viktor Kazantsev, presidential plenipotentiary in the Southern federal district, and Akhmed Zakayev, one of the so-called field commanders. The speaker told the press on Friday that such negotiations would be "useful and necessary" for the Chechen settlement. On Wednesday, October 24, Viktor Kazantsev reported that Akhmed Zakayev had called him and asked to organise a Moscow meeting for discussing the disarmament of Chechen militants and their adopting peaceful life.