A leading aide to the separatist Chechen leader, Mr Aslan Maskhadov, said yesterday that he held brief talks by telephone with a leading Russian official on ways to end the two-year war in Chechnya.
"Exactly 15 minutes ago I spoke with the special presidential envoy in southern Russia, Mr Viktor Kazantsev," Mr Akhmed Zakayev said by telephone from an undisclosed location. "This is the first contact between the Chechen and Russian sides, and there were no such contacts before this," Mr Zakayev said.
"We discussed technical questions about future negotiations concerning the end of military activity in Chechnya," said Mr Zakayev, who was appointed as Mr Maskhadov's chief negotiator earlier in the week.
On Monday, the Russian President, Mr Putin, delivered a 72-hour ultimatum for Chechen rebels to lay down their arms, and there have been conflicting reports over whether the two sides had open direct negotiations since.
Russian troops stormed into Chechnya on October 1st, 1999, launching an "anti-terrorist" operation that has since degenerated into a brutal guerrilla war that has claimed the lives of more than 3,000 federal troops and an undisclosed number of rebels and civilians. The two sides used intermediaries to exchange peace proposal in April, 2000, but no talks have been officially recorded since then. The Kremlin has further dropped its recognition of Mr Maskhadov as Chechen president, and refused to hold any direct contacts with the guerrilla leaders, labelling them as "international terrorists." Mr Kazantsev, who at one stage oversaw the Chechen campaign, on Thursday said that he had met an undisclosed representative of Mr Maskhadov, although the Chechens angrily denied that any official talks had been held.
"A representative of Maskhadov arrived, and I have met with him. I once again explained the conditions" of the offer from Mr Putin, Mr Kazantsev said. He added that the negotiation process had "almost begun". It remains unclear how Moscow intends to pursue the peace process.
A Kremlin spokesman stressed yesterday that Mr Putin had not issued an "ultimatum" to the rebels but simply intended to display his willingness to put an end to the war.