Lebed , Chechens sign framework political deal .
KHASAVYURT , Russia 1996-08-31
Russian peacemaker Alexander Lebed said he and rebel military leader Aslan Maskhadov agreed after overnight talks to defer the decision on whether Chechnya should be independent until December 31 , 2001 .
" We just now signed a statement and attached the basic principles of relations between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic , " Lebed told reporters after he and Maskhadov signed a package of documents .
He gave no further details .
" That 's it , the war is over , " Lebed told reporters who witnessed the signing .
Lebed said he and Maskhadov agreed to defer by more than five years the painful issue of Chechnya 's political status .
" Then , with cool heads , calmly and soberly we will sort out our relations , " Lebed said after the late-night signing ceremony in this settlement outside Chechnya 's eastern border .
Tens of thousands of people have died in the war , begun in late 1994 after Moscow sent troops to quell Chechnya 's independence bid .
But Russia failed to win control over the whole of Chechnya and its troops suffered several humiliating defeats .
President Boris Yeltsin ordered Lebed to restore peace in Chechnya and gave him unspecified sweeping powers to carry out the mission .
Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin said on Friday that Yeltsin backed a package of proposals Lebed took to the talks .