MOSCOW — The presidents of Russia and Chechnya signed a peace treaty Monday declaring an end to the separatist war in Chechnya and pledging to abandon the use of force in settling their disputes.
After signing the peace accord at a Kremlin ceremony, Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin and Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov declared that the treaty ends four centuries of armed conflict and will lead to cooperation in halting a recent wave of terrorism in Chechnya and Russia.
The brief agreement did not resolve the pivotal question of whether Chechnya is an independent nation or remains a part of Russia. But tacitly acknowledging Chechnya's goal of secession, the treaty provides that Russia and Chechnya will maintain relations in accordance with the "norms of international law."
The treaty opens the way for the release of prisoners of war by both sides and for renewed economic ties between Russia and Chechnya. It also strengthens Maskhadov's hand as he deals with Chechen extremists who have sought to further the independence movement through violence.
"We have signed a peace treaty of historic dimensions, putting a full stop to 400 years of history," Yeltsin said after signing the pact. "With the help of [other] agreements, we will advance our relations in the economic, trade and other spheres."
Maskhadov, standing beside Yeltsin and wearing his traditional sheepskin hat, agreed: "Today we have shown to all the world that the peace process has materialized."
It was the first time a Chechen president had met with Yeltsin, who recently said the war in Chechnya was the biggest mistake of his presidency. In a symbolic concession to the Chechens, Yeltsin referred to the area as "the Republic of Ichkeria," the name preferred by the separatists.
For more than two centuries, the Muslim people of the Caucasus region fought intermittently with Russia until the mountainous area was annexed in 1859 by the Russian empire. During World War II, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin accused the Chechens of collaborating with the Nazis and deported the entire population to Central Asia, where the Chechens remained for more than a decade before being allowed to return home.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the tiny republic insisted it was an independent state and refused to join the Russian Federation that almost surrounds it. In 1994, Russia accused Chechnya of harboring terrorists and Yeltsin sent in troops to crush the independence movement.
