Twenty-five years ago, on January 11, 1995, Ukraine’s former President Leonid Kravchuk, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and prominent Kazakh author Olzhas Sulimenov, were invited by the Chechen national coordinating council, Maslaat, to serve as mediators in the armed conflict in Chechnya and the surrounding region.
Two of the invited leaders consented to attend, while President Carter had not indicated his decision.
President Kravchuk said, “We must do everything possible for the world to know the real tragedy of the Chechen people. Innocent people, civilians, are dying every day.” The events in Chechnya, “are not accidental,” he said. “This is real implementation of the new Russia policy, the restoration of a united and indivisible Russia, one that is resuming its expansionist aspirations.”