A NATO spokesman, speaking after a meeting of its ambassadors discussed the crisis, said, "While fully recognizing the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation, NATO allies are deeply concerned with the developments in Chechnya, especially the tragic loss of life and destruction.
"They call for the earliest possible end to violence and for proper access to be provided for the humanitarian agencies. They call for a negotiated, peaceful solution to the problem."
The spokesman said full respect for human rights was essential and that NATO allies urged recourse to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe -- the renamed Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe -- to try to resolve the conflict.
The body's ambassadors will meet in Vienna on Thursday to decide what diplomatic moves can be taken by their newly reinforced security organization to stop the fighting. They are awaiting a report by their envoy Istvan Gyarmati of Hungary following high-level talks in Moscow on the month-old crisis.
Leading members of the 53-country organization, including the U.S., France and Germany, are pressing President Boris Yeltsin to bring it in as mediator between his government and leaders of the breakaway region.
Russia has agreed to allow a mission from the body to visit Chechnya, in what organization sources in Vienna said could be a first step towards a mediation process.
In Washington, Senator Jesse Helms threatened more than diplomatic measures: "Our relationship with him (Yeltsin) ... has been good, but if he can't control his people in terms of killing women and children and other people, then he had better look out as far as foreign aid is concerned or any other aid, in my judgement."
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Strobe Talbott attended the NATO talks during a visit to Brussels to prepare for a meeting in Geneva on Jan. 17-18 between U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev. He met Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Mamedov on Tuesday.
NATO sources said Talbott pointed to strains which the Chechen conflict could cause in implementing the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe arms reduction treaty, which provides for cuts in military hardware from the Atlantic to the Urals.
The sources said the instability in Chechnya would make it seem more urgent for Russian generals to gain greater flexibility in deploying heavy weapons on their southern flank.
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