YELTSIN ORDERS VIRTUALLY ALL TROOPS TO LEAVE CHECHNYA.Byline: Michael R. Gordon Michael R. Gordon is the chief military correspondent for The New York Times [1]. Together with Judith Miller, he wrote most of that paper's coverage of the Bush administration's case for war with Iraq in 2002. The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times President Boris Yeltsin “Yeltsin” redirects here. For other uses, see Yeltsin (disambiguation). Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (IPA: [bʌˈrʲis nʲikoˈlajevɨtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn] on Saturday ordered the withdrawal of virtually all of the remaining Russian forces in Chechnya, a move that will deprive Moscow of even a face-saving military presence in the breakaway region in southern Russia. Russia wanted to maintain a small but permanent military force in Chechnya, but its two remaining brigades became a sticking point sticking point n. A point, issue, or situation that causes or is likely to cause an impasse. Noun 1. sticking point - a point at which an impasse arises in progress toward an agreement or a goal with Chechen rebels, who demanded their withdrawal. In a concession to the rebels, Yeltsin ordered that the troops be removed from Chechnya and stationed elsewhere in the North Caucasus The North Caucasus is the northern part of the Caucasus region between Europe and Asia. The term is also used as a synonym for the North Caucasus Economical Region of Russia. , just across the border. Before Yeltsin's decision, the Interior Ministry's 101st Brigade and the army's 205th Brigade were to be stationed in Chechnya indefinitely to provide a minimal level of security and to demonstrate that Chechnya was still a part of the Russian federation Russian Federation: see Russia. . Quoting Interior Ministry officials, the Russian news agency Interfax said the deadline for withdrawing the brigades was Jan. 27, when Chechnya is to hold elections to pick a new president and legislature. A small number of Russian soldiers are expected to remain behind to guard key sites as members of joint Chechen-Russian patrols. And the status of the airport, which has been under Russian military control, remains to be resolved. With the withdrawal of the troops, economic relations will become Russia's main tool for dissuading Chechnya from pressing ahead with its demands for independence, or at least seeking autonomy in a less conspicuous way. Summing up the new Russian New Russian (новый русский—novyi russkiy in Russian) is a term denoting a stereotypical caricature of the newly rich business class in post-Soviet Russia. approach, the newspaper Segodnya recently observed: ``Chechnya today is living its own life, separately from Russia. But Chechnya does not forget that its future still depends on Russia - in any case, on Russia's money.'' Russia and Chechnya signed an accord this summer that leaves Chechnya's political status undecided for up to five years. But the two sides have openly disagreed on Chechnya's ultimate status. Moscow has said that Russia's territorial integrity Territorial integrity is the principle under international law that nation-states should not attempt to promote secessionist movements or to promote border changes in other nation-states. Conversely it states that border changes imposed by force are acts of aggression. must be maintained; Chechen leaders say they will not be satisfied with anything less than full independence. Underscoring the decision that Russia's unsuccessful effort to apply military pressure is to be supplanted by economic leverage, Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin (Russian: Ви́ктор Степа́нович Черномы́рдин and Aslan Maskhadov, a top leader of the Chechen rebels, signed a new agreement Saturday on economic cooperation. The agreement calls for restoring trade, communications and road links by December. Customs regulations are to be established. Also by December, the two sides are to conclude a new agreement on refining and transporting oil and gas. Saturday, the Chechen rebels promised to guarantee the security of the oil pipelines and refineries in the war-ravaged Chechen territory. CAPTION(S): Map Map: CHECHNYA New York Times News |
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