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U.S. Envoy to Russia Plans Trip to Chechnya
WASHINGTON, Sept 5 (News Agencies) - The United States remains deeply concerned about the situation in Chechnya and is planning to send its new ambassador to Moscow to the breakaway Russian republic soon to get a first-hand look at the ongoing conflict there, a senior U.S. official said Wednesday.
The envoy, Alexander "Sandy" Versbow, plans to travel to Chechnya within the "next month to month-and-a-half" pending permission from Russian authorities, the official said.
"Chechnya remains a real mess and there are no signs the Russians are looking for a political way out, which is unfortunate because there is no likelihood they will succeed with their military strategy," he said.
The official, speaking to reporters at the State Department on condition of anonymity, said that in addition to Moscow's continued offensives in Chechnya, Washington was distressed that no progress appeared to have been made in bringing Russian soldiers to justice for alleged atrocities in the republic.
"I can't say we're seeing genuine efforts to hold accountable those soldiers and officers involved in atrocities and excesses," the official said.
Vershbow's trip is aimed at showing "we are genuinely concerned about the path the Russians are on [and] to support the international agencies that are engaged in dealing with refugees and displaced persons," he added.
The official spoke as reports from Moscow on Wednesday said that Russian troops backed by attack helicopters had killed dozens of Chechen fighters during raids on mountain villages in southeastern Chechnya.
The Chechen fighters, meanwhile, claimed to have killed about 30 Russian soldiers, while suffering only three losses themselves.
Since the beginning of the latest conflict in Chechnya in 1999, both sides have regularly inflated the number of losses of their adversaries while playing down their own losses, in an intense propaganda war.
While supporting Russia's territorial sovereignty, Washington has repeatedly called on Moscow to seek a political solution to the conflict.
U.S. diplomats have also angered their Russian counterparts by meeting on several occasions in Washington with members of Chechnya's non-Moscow aligned parallel government including the republic's foreign minister.
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