ROSTOV-ON-DON. Nov 1 (Interfax-AVN) - The entourage of the Russian presidential envoy to the Southern federal district Viktor Kazantsev has expressed surprise over reports on agreements to allow Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov to leave Russia.
"This might be a provocation to thwart Kazantsev's meeting with Maskhadov's representative Akhmed Zakayev," a high-ranking official from Kazantsev's office told Interfax on Thursday.
"A meeting with Zakayev is only being prepared, and no subjects have been discussed with Maskhadov's envoy yet," the source said.
"You should understand that the meeting does not imply any negotiations. The sides will only discuss the procedure of rebels' laying down their weapons and mechanisms of their integration into peaceful life in Chechnya," he said.
A number of media outlets earlier said that Maskhadov and rebels led by him may lay down their weapons and cease terrorist activity against federal forces in exchange for a safe departure from the republic. According to these reports, Kazantsev and Zakayev have already come to a preliminary agreement that Maskhadov will be given a green light to leave Chechnya for a foreign country.