Chechen Truce Extended as Talks Hit Snag : Russia: Kremlin’s decision indicates its eagerness to settle conflict and pacify Parliament.

Battle-weary politicians bought time for reflecting on another looming power struggle in Russia by agreeing Friday to extend a cease-fire in the war in Chechnya and postponing a parliamentary confrontation with Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin.

The decision by the government in Moscow to hold fire, despite hitting an impasse in peace talks with Chechen leaders, suggested that the Kremlin is eager to settle its 6-month-old conflict with the rebels and pacify a Russian Parliament angered by the war’s deadly fallout of terrorism.

Negotiations bogged down over the validity of Chechnya’s separatist constitution and the question of who would organize elections in the tiny southern republic. But both sides agreed to extend a temporary truce and resume peace talks Tuesday.

The intense discussions, which have already produced agreement on military aspects of a settlement, offer the Chechens a chance to end their losing battle for independence while preserving some measure of autonomy from Moscow.

A peaceful conclusion would also rescue Yeltsin from the tense standoff he has provoked with the state Duma, the parliamentary lower house, by threatening to disband the Parliament.

In brief remarks to reporters after adjourning, Russian and Chechen delegates offered no hint of compromise. But they mingled easily with each other and even posed for a group photograph.

A diplomat with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is sponsoring the talks at its mission here, said the negotiations “are moving with strong momentum.”

Tens of thousands of Russian troops invaded Chechnya in December to crush the rebellion of Gen. Dzhokar M. Dudayev, who was elected president of the mostly Muslim republic in 1991 and won his Parliament’s approval of a constitution declaring independence in 1992.

After putting up strong resistance, Dudayev’s army was driven from Grozny and nearly every town and village in Chechnya, at a cost of about 20,000 lives. But the rebels forced this round of negotiations with a terrorist raid last week on the city of Budennovsk.

The Chechen side has insisted on the supremacy of Dudayev’s constitution on Chechen soil and the right of his ousted government to organize parliamentary and local elections. The two sides have agreed that elections will be held by Nov. 5, in the presence of outside observers.

“Our position is that the Chechen government remains in power,” said Gen. Aslan Maskhadov, the Chechen military chief of staff and a delegate at the talks. “Ours is the government [the Russians] are negotiating with.”

Russian negotiators insisted that elections be organized by the Moscow-appointed Chechen government of Prime Minister Salambek Khadzhiyev, who says the leaders elected next fall would have the right to propose a new constitution as long as it recognizes Moscow’s sovereignty.

Arkady I. Volsky, an industrialist on the Russian side, said the talks are also deadlocked over the issue of Dudayev’s eligibility to be a candidate in the elections. The Russian prosecutor general has issued an arrest warrant on charges of treason and terrorism.

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The talks achieved a breakthrough early Thursday when the sides agreed on a procedure for exchanging prisoners, disarming Dudayev’s army and withdrawing most Russian troops from Chechnya. Those steps would begin only when the political issues are settled.

That military agreement looks shaky, however. It commits the Chechens to help Russian forces capture the Chechen guerrilla who led the raid on Budennovsk--a concession Maskhadov told supporters outside the talks not to take seriously.

Many Russian officers have criticized the agreement, saying they want a military victory.

Even so, the cease-fire appeared to be holding. The Russian military hospital here has treated eight Russian soldiers wounded in Chechen attacks over the past three days, compared to an average of 12 per day in May.

The war has deeply damaged Yeltsin’s international prestige and his standing among Russians. The Budennovsk crisis prompted the Duma to vote no-confidence in his leadership Wednesday.

Yeltsin parried the reprimand by threatening to disband the unruly Duma unless it revoked the vote.

That threat still loomed large, as most Duma factions have reiterated their determination to censure Yeltsin and the Cabinet when the deputies gather on July 1.

But by calling the vote for the bitter end of a 10-day period in which the deputies had to respond, they appeared to be leaving time for a breakthrough in the peace talks or a Cabinet reshuffle to punish police and security officials for allowing the Budennovsk attack.

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Duma deputies rejected a Communist Party petition to start impeachment proceedings against Yeltsin, instead issuing a “recommendation” that the president fire the ministers of defense, police and security forces for neglect in the Budennovsk bloodshed in which about 1,000 hostages were taken and more than 100 people were killed.

If Yeltsin strikes a responsive pose and sacks any of the targeted officials, the Duma would have a face-saving pretext for reversing its no-confidence vote and preserving the deputies’ political podium.

Under the Russian constitution, the president is obliged to dismiss the Cabinet or disband Parliament and call new elections in the event of two no-confidence votes within three months.

Boudreaux reported from Grozny and Williams from Moscow.

More on Chechens

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