POLITICAL BACKLASH MOUNTS AGAINST CHECHEN WAR.

Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky published an appeal "To Stop the War in Chechnya" in Izvestiya February 1. He pledged to immediately stop the "senseless massacre" if elected president. Yavlinsky proposed a four-point peace plan based on the withdrawal of Russian troops and a determination of Chechnya’s status by referendum. The plan is proposed to cover the time period remaining until the June presidential election. Yavlinsky urged President Boris Yeltsin and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin to immediately stop offensive operations and encouraged all of Russia’s regions to follow Nizhny Novgorod’s example (see Monitor, February 1) and to collect tens of millions of signatures this month on petitions demanding an end to the war. Russia’s Democratic Choice leader Yegor Gaidar also appealed for support for the Nizhny Novgorod initiative. Also February 1, the Union of Russia’s Moslems announced February 1 plans to collect 3 million signatures in support of the Nizhny Novgorod initiative and the Khabarovsk regional legislature sent a letter to Yeltsin, the government, and the Federal Assembly rejecting the use of force in Chechnya and urging a negotiated political solution. (15)

Russia and Ukraine to Resume Talks on Oil Transit Charges.