BRZEZINSKI ADVOCATES NEGOTIATIONS.

The July 3 issue of Moskovskie Novosti carried an interview with former U.S. national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski conducted by well-known journalist Sanobar Shermatova. Asked about the work of the American Committee for Peace in Chechnya, of which he is a leader, Brzezinski replied: “Our main point consists in assisting negotiations directed toward halting a conflict that is destructive for all the sides which have been drawn into it. It causes countless sufferings for the people of Chechnya as a whole but also for many families in Russia. The way in which this war has been conducted places Russia’s belonging to Europe in doubt. It elicits antagonism on the part of Muslims and makes them hostile toward Russia. It hinders the stabilization and economic development of the Caucasus region. In short, there exist a number of convincing reasons for the quest for a civilized way out of this war that meet the basic interests of the peoples which have been drawn into it. In order to achieve such a resolution, reasonable leaders–among whose number I include the present leadership of Russia, one the one hand, and Maskhadov, on the side of Chechnya, on the other–it is important to conduct negotiations” (Translated back into English from the Russian original).