Media freedom groups have accused Moscow of trying to muzzle independent coverage of the Chechen conflict.

Parliament is debating a constitutional amendment that would wrest responsibility for the Chechen conflict away from the executive branch.

A6 Yeltsin campaigned in a site linked to the Chechen conflict.

The 2010 Moscow Metro bombings are also believed to result from the Chechen conflict.

But any negotiated peace to the Chechen conflict is likely to follow a tortuous route.

A staggering series of recent terrorist attacks rooted in the Chechen conflict have been both horrific and remote to most Americans.

The implications of the Chechen conflict for the United States are equally clear.

"We confirm our intention to put an end to the bloodshed in the zone of the Chechen conflict," the statement said.

To the contrary, the hard-line approach to the Chechen conflict continues to draw almost unanimous support in Russia.

The Council absolutely agrees that only a political solution can resolve the Chechen conflict.