Moscow has been holding talks with rebel groups to try to end the conflict in Chechnya, the Russia army chief of staff, General Anatoly Kvashnin, told the news agency RIA-Novosti Friday.
"We are holding talks with those who have their heads screwed on properly and who understand there is no turning back," Kvashnin said, in reference to the peace accords that halted the conflict between Moscow and Chechnya from 1994 to 1996.
However Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev quickly denied the statement, qualifying it as "silly" and "absurd," according to RIA-Novosti.
Sergeyev and Kvashnin have often been at loggerheads over army reform.
President Vladimir Putin is categorically opposed to negotiating with the rebels, including the breakaway province's president, Aslan Maskhadov -- MOSCOW (AFP)
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