Negotiators Extend Truce in Chechnya : Russia: Cease-fire is now due to expire today. Only scattered clashes are reported.

Russian and Chechen military leaders agreed to extend until today a cease-fire that was due to expire, Chechen Chief of Staff Aslan Maskhadov said Friday.

Speaking after four hours of talks in this settlement in the Ingushi region bordering Chechnya, Maskhadov said the two sides had failed to agree on an exchange of prisoners and war dead.

Instead, they would simply exchange lists of prisoners in the Chechen capital of Grozny, he said.

Shamil Basayev, a renowned commander on the Chechen separatist side, told reporters: “Today was another day without fighting and without bloodshed. It is a success.”

Although fighting appeared to be diminishing, the Interfax news agency said in a report from Grozny that there was an exchange of tank and shellfire south of the capital overnight. Only scattered clashes were reported Friday.

Few on either side expect a truce to end all fighting, much less create a political settlement, anytime soon. But the agreements are the first indications of a dialogue developing between the warring sides.

Maskhadov said the Chechnya crisis could not be solved at the military level.

“They want to leave a military contingent here but the military will never be able to solve the problem in Chechnya, only at the presidential or government level,” he said.

“The politicians started all this. Russia wants to hold talks at the level of commanders simply because they do not want to recognize the legally elected president and government of Chechnya.”

The main result of the talks, held at a rundown airport close to the border, was to extend a 48-hour comprehensive cease-fire which would have expired at midnight Friday. The new deadline was set for 6 p.m. (10 a.m. EST).

Despite reports of scattered clashes, the first Red Cross convoy made it into Grozny. The international aid agency sent three trucks carrying 20 tons of food into the shattered capital.

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“We’ve just been waiting for a break in the fighting, and we’re very pleased that the cease-fire seems to be holding a bit,” Red Cross regional coordinator Terry Lewis said.

Much of the capital is a bombed-out ruin, but areas under Russian control have begun showing more signs of life. Traffic was heavier Friday, and there were more people on the streets and increased goods for sale.

“You can see how it’s changed just in the last couple of days--that people are up and about and moving,” said Lewis.

But he said things were still “very bad,” with critical shortages of food and water, and sporadic gunfire could still be heard from parts of the city where Chechen fighters are still battling for territory.

In spite of the extension of the cease-fire and the pending exchange of lists of prisoners, military and political leaders on both sides see little prospect of peace emerging soon.

Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin, who sent troops into Chechnya Dec. 11 to crush a three-year-old bid for independence, blasted his military chiefs Thursday for the bungled campaign in which thousands have died.

But in a State of the Nation speech, he was virulent in his condemnation of separatist leader Gen. Dzhokhar M. Dudayev and adamant the independence drive had to be crushed.

The brutality of the conflict has damaged Yeltsin’s image as a democrat in the eyes of his Western allies and his erstwhile liberal backers inside Russia, as well as throwing into question international financial aid.

Yeltsin’s speech received a mixed reception among Western governments, failing to dispel their misgivings over the military campaign.

In Washington, meanwhile, a senior U.S. official on Friday said the White House had decided not to accept Yeltsin’s invitation to a May 8 summit in connection with the 50th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany. Clinton has been under pressure to refuse the invitation because of Russian military campaign in Chechnya.

And Secretary of State Warren Christopher said it was unlikely Clinton would attend the ceremonies.

“He’s concluded he chooses to commemorate the victory on U.S. soil,” Christopher said, but that “clearly Chechnya was a factor.”

“The White House will be looking for dates for the meeting with Yeltsin” before the end of June, he added.