Lebed likely to fail on Chechnya - Polish minister .
WARSAW 1996-08-28
Russian security chief Aleksander Lebed faces an almost impossible task in Chechnya and is likely to be sidelined , Polish Foreign Minister Dariusz Rosati was reported as saying on Wednesday .
According to best-selling daily Gazeta Wyborcza , Rosati told the Polish parliament 's foreign affairs committee on Tuesday that the fact Lebed had been charged with resolving the conflict in Chechnya showed he would be marginalised .
" It is almost impossible to gain success in this , " it quoted Rosati as saying during a committee debate .
" Lebed has no diplomatic experience .
Yeltsin sent him there to compromise him .
This tactical manoeuvre also shows that in the ruling circle there is no unity of action , " he said .
Lebed , who has arranged a military truce with separatist rebels in the southern Russia region , was in Moscow this week seeking support for a deal on Chechnya 's political status .
But Russian President Boris Yeltsin has seemed unwilling to meet his envoy and went on holiday on Monday .
Gazeta Wyborcza quoted Rosati as saying Yeltsin was very ill and effectively on leave , but for now retained control in Russia although matters were passing into the hands of his close collaborators .
Rosati said Russia 's July polls , in which Yeltsin won re-election , showed democracy had passed an important test and the Russian people had chosed the path of further reforms .
But he said a power struggle in Russia 's ruling circles could not be ruled out , which could harm further reforms .
He expressed concern over problems in the Russian economy , saying this could lead to social unrest , the daily reported .
On Moscow 's foreign policy , Rosati said it had changed its stance on NATO 's eastward expansion and was preparing itself for Poland 's inevitable entry into the Western alliance .
He also reportedly criticised Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov , saying his style of work resembled that of the Soviet-era 1970s and 1980s .