CHECHEN FIGHTING IN A LULL.

Russian forces reduced some combat operations June 7 as units prepared to assault Chechen forces in the mountains, Moscow media reported. But Interfax said that there were intense battles going on in the southeast, and Moscow radio reported that there had been some spillover of the fighting into neighboring republics as Chechen fighters fled before the Russian advance. Meanwhile, Moscow’s dreaded Black Berets–the OMON troops–moved into Vedeno, Moscow television said. The station noted that the OMON had discovered enough arms there for at least two divisions. Moscow radio said the same day that arms were reaching the Chechen fighters from Turkey via Iran and Afghanistan. Tass claimed that Chechen fighters had lost their will to fight after the fall of Vedeno, but other Russian papers reported that while the Chechens were willing to talk, they were also prepared to fight. Segodnya on June 7, for example, reported that Chechen president Dzhokhar Dudayev was now prepared to have talks, but only about a political settlement and not about his surrender.

Again on June 7, there was no word on the fate of Fred Cuny, the American aid specialist who has been missing in Chechnya since April 9.

Kozyrev: No Need for a Veto.