CHECHNYA AND RUSSIA TO SET UP HOTLINE.

Publication: Monitor Volume: 3 Issue: 227

Russian Security Council secretary Ivan Rybkin expressed satisfaction yesterday with his latest one-day visit to Grozny. He and Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov discussed President Boris Yeltsin’s intention of visiting Chechnya in January and agreed to install a Yeltsin-Maskhadov hotline. Rybkin repeated a complaint he has made in the past, namely, that the Russian government is complicating his task of negotiating with the Chechen government by failing to fulfill its pledges, including payment of 35 billion rubles in promised financial aid to the republic and an undertaking to upgrade Grozny airport to international status. "We cannot go on making endless promises and agreements that only remain on paper," Rybkin said. (Itar-Tass, NTV, December 3-4)

American Businessman to be Charged Today.