Throughout August and into early September, the Russian and Georgian governments continued to exchange sharp words over the murky situation in the Pankisi Gorge region of northern Georgia. "The United States," the White House press secretary stated on August 24, "is deeply concerned about credible... MORE

During meetings held in the Duchy of Liechtenstein between August 16-19, key discussions took place between two former speakers of the Russian parliament, Ivan Rybkin and Ruslan Khasbulatov, and two elected deputies to the Russian State Duma, journalist Yury Shchekochikhin of Novaya Gazeta and Aslambek... MORE

All Roads Lead to the Pankisi [Gorge]" a headline in the September 9 issue of Vremya Novostei read. Russian law enforcement officials were claiming that those responsible for the terror bombings in Moscow and Volgodonsk in September of 1999, which took some 350 lives, were... MORE

On September 7, Russian Defense Minister Ivanov signed Order No. 59 regarding the crash of a large Mi-26 military helicopter at Khankala Military Base, located outside the Chechen capital city of Grozny, on August 19, after it had been hit by a Chechen separatist hand-held... MORE

On September 9-10, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, General of the Army Anatoly Kvashnin, conducted an inspection visit of Russian military and police checkpoints and other sites in Chechnya and then held a meeting with pro-Moscow republican leaders. On... MORE

In his meeting with the pro-Moscow chief of administration, Akhmad Kadyrov, and other Chechen leaders, Kvashnin "underlined that he is prepared at any minute to give a command concerning the withdrawal of military units based in population points, if the heads of the district administration... MORE

On the evening of September 11, relations between Russian military forces based in Chechnya and the pro-Moscow Chechen police became strained "to the maximum." After a Kamaz truck carrying soldiers from the Russian military commandant's office of Oktyabr'sky District in Grozny swerved at great speed,... MORE

During a roundtable discussion in Moscow, which was attended by Russian parliamentarians and political analysts, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, Alexander Vershbow, asserted that the United States now views separatist Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov with "increasing skepticism." "Russia has not been able to catch all... MORE

In the first week of September, Ivan Rybkin, a former speaker of the Russian State Duma and a former secretary of the Russian Security Council, traveled to Tbilisi to discuss his peace plan for the Chechen conflict with the president of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze. "I... MORE