Moscow, 29 November 1999 (RFE/RL) - Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Chairman Knut Vollebaek is due in Moscow today for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov on the crisis in Chechnya. Correspondents say the talks may clear the way for a tour of Chechnya in mid-December by OSCE delegates.
Meanwhile, Alvaro Gil-Robles, a human rights commissioner for the Council of Europe who arrived in Moscow yesterday, plans to set off today for the North Caucasus to assess the plight of Chechen refugees. The visits come as Russian forces intensify their air and artillery strikes on Grozny and villages in southern Chechnya.