Let’s remember what Akhmad Zakayev said about the negotiation issue with puppet regime of Chechnya at one of his interviews in 2004.

It is a part of the Akhmad Zakayev’s interview with Novaya Gazeta on August 2, 2004:

Novaya Gazeta: They are asying in Moscow that it is unnecessary to enter into negotiations with you, since there can’t be negotiations with terrorists. But are you yourself ready for negotiations, and with whom?

Akhmad Zakayev: We aren’t going to negotiate in any form with the people who were assigned by the Kremlin. From the point of view of a majority of innocent Chechen civilians, not to mention the soldiers of the Chechen Resistance, negotiations with the pro-Russian Chechens are a treachery against the national interests.

Novaya Gazeta: What conditions must arise for the Chechen Resistance to join negotiations?

Akhmad Zakayev: Unfortunately, during all 300 years of Chechen Resistance against Russia, the question of armistice, an end to the war, never depended on us. This was always the prerogative of Russia as the strong power.

When the Russian leaders agree among themselves, and the Russian President publicly declares, that the military actions on the territory of the Chechen Republic have ended, then true elections will be carried out under the control of international organizations and peace will begin in Chechnya.

*The interview re-published today by Chechenews.com and translated into English by Norbert Strade, the editor of Chechnya-Short List group.

If anybody interested in the original version of Zakayev’s interview with Novaya Gazeta, then may follow this link: http://www.novayagazeta.ru/data/2004/55/18.html