…AS YELTSIN RETURNS TO MOSCOW.

Upon his return from France yesterday, Russian president Boris Yeltsin announced that Russia was prepared to withdraw all its troops from Chechnya if rebel troops agreed to abandon the use of force. Yeltsin, who was in France to attend the funeral of former French president Francois Mitterrand, was greatly criticized when he left the country during the June 1995 hostage crisis in Budennovsk. (2) In Washington, a U.S. state department spokesman yesterday condemned the seizure of hostages and called for their immediate release and a return to negotiations. The spokesman said the U.S. was following the conflict closely and urged Moscow "to exercise restraint in Chechnya." (3)

Juppe-Chernomyrdin Commission to be Created.