CHECHEN TALKS RECESS UNTIL JULY 29.

After a brief meetingJuly 25, the Grozny peace talks recessed for three days of consultations.Russian officials continued to express optimism that the talkswhich are now stalled over the status of Chechnya, could end withan agreement. Yeltsin aide Sergei Filatov said that "onlysome details, a reshuffling of words largely in regard to Chechnya’sstatus, remain to be agreed upon" and that this recess inthe talks would not lead to a resumption of fighting, Russianmedia reported July 25. But precisely these words, and that danger,now seem to be at issue. Chechen president Dzhokhar Dudayev toldthe Unrepresentated Nations and Peoples Organization that Chechnyawas prepared to launch guerrilla attacks inside Russia unlessMoscow recognized Chechen independence, according to a July 25Reuters report. "We have nothing to lose anymore, and soRussia should be warned that they have to make the right concessionsto make us feel things are going in the right direction–otherwiseour options are still open to fight," Dudayev was quotedas saying. One thing that did not change July 25 was that therewas still no news about the fate of Fred Cuny, the American aidworker who has been missing in Chechnya since April 9.

Chernomyrdin, Kozyrev Continue to Oppose Any Use of Force inBosnia.