(11 Jan 1995) Russian/Nat
Chechen President General Dzhokhar Dudayev announced Wednesday that he is ready to talk peace with Boris Yeltsin.
In his first public appearance for days, he told a news conference in Grozny that the war could be ended in just an hour if Moscow is prepared to talk.
President Dudayev said Wednesday that he's willing to talk peace with Russia and end the fighting in his republic.
Dudayev left the presidential palace in Grozny last week. Since then, his whereabouts have been unknown.
But out of hiding he appeared today at a press conference dressed in camouflage and military cap and repeatedly stressed that "peace" was the only solution to the Chechen crisis.
Flanked by bodyguards, Dudayev said there could be "no other resolution."
Dudayev claimed the Chechen conflict could be solved in just one hour if Boris Yeltsin is prepared to meet.
SOUNDBITE:
"Only a peaceful solution. I tell you there is no other way. This can be solved in one day, in one hour. There is no other way. No other way."
SUPER CAPTION: Dzhokhar Dudayev, Chechen President
He blamed previous inconclusive peace talks on Chechen extremists.
SOUNDBITE:
" There is only one way out to sit down. We have sat down for talks at governmental level several times. The first three short rounds of talks led to a radical solution of our issues. But that solution did not suit extremists and they began to organize armed aggression."
SUPER CAPTION: General Dudayev
But he emphasized that the spirit of the Chechen people, no matter how hard the Russian forces attack, will never die.
SOUNDBITE:
"Even if they wipe out every populated area and flatten the hills of the Caucuses. Nevertheless, the spirit of the nation is a gift of nature. It is its freedom."
SUPER CAPTION: General Dudayev
Dudayev claimed that no matter the outcome of the war, in the end neither side will be totally victorious.
SOUNDBITE:
"As far as victory and defeat is concerned in such a war you don't have victors or vanquished. Both lose."
SUPER CAPTION: General Dudayev
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