The war in Chechnya has gone on for more than 13 years and has claimed 300,000 lives on both sides.

It is no mistake when I say 13 years, because in reality this war started in 1991, when the newly elected President of the Chechen Republic, Dzhokhar Dudayev, endorsed the declaration of sovereignty adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

Russia has never had legal reasons to claim Chechen territory Akhmed Zakayev

Russia has for many centuries attempted to take over Chechnya. The Chechens resisted these attempts, fighting for their freedom and independence.

In the 1990s, during the Gorbachev era, Russia and Chechnya had a historic chance to establish equal relations that later would have turned into integration under conditions of parity.

The Chechen government headed by Dzhokhar Dudayev was ready for this and called upon the Russian authorities to do that.

But the essence of the new pseudo-democratic Russia was that of an empire. Russia's pathetic democrats could not understand that colonial wars were a thing of the past.

It is important to note that a healthy portion of Russian society, like the Chechen people, was a victim and hostage of the Kremlin's Chechen policy.

QUICK GUIDE The Chechen conflict

Russia has never had legal justification to claim Chechen territory. That is why the Russian authorities rejected political dialogue and attempted to solve this issue by means of force, ignoring the losses and committing monstrous crimes.

It is not only Yeltsin and [President Vladimir] Putin who are responsible for this war, but also the public that supports it. Out of political expediency, international institutions stick to the idea that the war in Chechnya is Russia's internal affair, turning a blind eye to human rights violations.

This conflict cannot be resolved by force. Sooner or later there will be negotiations. But today we can firmly state that Russia and Ichkeria [Chechnya] cannot get out of this vicious circle on their own.

International involvement is needed - but I don't see this happening in the near future. Neither the UN, nor the US nor the EU are ready to launch a peace settlement, because they don't want to offend their friend Putin.

They need this conflict, because without it Putin would be unpredictable and unmanageable. With the Chechen issue on his agenda, Putin is much more compliant.

Russia might understand how hopeless and calamitous this venture is for itself and might initiate international intervention to settle the conflict. In this case, the UN would not be able to ignore the issue.

But this is impossible under the current regime in Russia. Therefore I believe that the war will continue spreading all over the Caucasus. The Chechens will have nothing else to do, but to continue their fight for freedom.

It remains Russia's prerogative to start and to stop wars, and nothing has changed yet. Russian society will recognise our freedom only when it becomes free itself. 

ChechenCenter.info