A FRAIL hope for peace was born in Chechnya last night. The Russian envoy, Mr Alexander Lebed, and the rebel commander, Mr Aslan Maskhadov, signed an ambitious deal to end fighting in the capital, Grozny.
But the conclusion of talks in the Chechen village of Novy Atagi was undermined by continued fighting and the sudden appearance on Russian television of a carping Mr Boris Yeltsin, who said he was dissatisfied with Gen Lebed's work as a peacemaker.
Having inexplicably disappeared from public view for two weeks during a national emergency, a stiff, awkward but perfectly articulate president chose the very moment of the signing of the peace deal to criticise his national security adviser.
"I hope the talks will succeed," he said. But he went on: "At this time, I am not altogether satisfied with Lebed and his work in Chechnya. We need to remember that he continuously promised the electors that he would solve the Chechen problem once he had power.
"Now he has power, but unfortunately, so far, his work has not produced results."
Russian media reports said Gen Lebed had managed to persuade the Chechen side to make a separate peace agreement for Grozny as a preliminary step before negotiating the withdrawal of Russian troops and the future status of the territory as a whole.
Full details of the document were not available. But Interfax news agency said it created a joint rebel-federal command centre to maintain order in Grozny, laid down a schedule for partial withdrawal of forces from the city and listed the positions held by each side.
Grozny was largely quiet yesterday. The International Committee of the Red Cross estimates that about 120,000 civilians remain in the city.
It is going to be exceptionally difficult for Gen Lebed to persuade federal troops to co-operate with the men most generals still think of as bandits.
Gen Maskhadov may also have trouble reining in the diffuse bands of fighting men nominally under his command.