LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Chechnya: Boris Yeltsin
built 280 days ago
[R]egardless of the final details, an exit from Chechnya will call for enormous political sacrifice and perhaps physical courage. Following a decisive reelection victory in 1996, Yeltsin "walked away" from Chechnya to fulfill a key campaign promise. For all his popularity, Putin may not want to jeopardize his reelection in 2004. Instead, like Yeltsin, he may postpone serious negotiations until after the election.
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The fact that all major decisions connected with Russia's military actions in Chechnya were made by the Russian Security Council necessitates a thorough examination of its decision-making role. First, it is necessary to keep in mind that the Security Council, despite its important appearance, is not an independent decision-making organ. All decisions by the Security Council acquire executive standing only after the president, who is simultaneously the chairman of the Security Council, signs an appropriate decree. From both a legal and practical standpoint, the Security Council is an advisory body to the president. If the Security Council adopts a certain decision, it only means that the chairman of the Security Council has signed the document (the signatures of other members do not matter in practice) and that the chairman, this time in the capacity of president, intends to translate this decision into a formal decree (ukaz), although nothing obliges him to do so.[25] Therefore, the proper question is not how the Security Council reached its "decision" but what its various members, beginning with the "power ministers" advised President Yeltsin and whose advice he heeded. Since the Security Council's proceedings were conducted behind tightly closed doors... this is an almost impossible question to answer.
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The rebels, who say a free election is impossible with Russian troops in Chechnya, signed only after they were assured that local elections would be postponed. But Zavgayev said he was determined to press ahead, and Yeltsin declined to interfere.
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