Peace talks have begun in Moscow between an envoy for the Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov and a representative of the Russian President Vladimir Putin.
They are the first direct talks to be held in an attempt to end the war in Chechnya. President Putin indicated in September that he would be willing to hold face-to-face talks. It was an apparent reversal of Moscow's policy of refusing to negotiate with the rebels during two years of war in Chechnya.
