The Russian-Chechen Peace Treaty
1996
Russian President Boris Yeltsin, and the newly elected president of Chechnya, Aslan Maskhadov, signed a formal peace treaty following the First Chechen War. The two sides agreed to no longer use force or the threat of force to resolve disputes, and looked to build bilateral relations between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. The treaty was greeted with great jubilation in Chechnya, but the primary issue of independence remained unresolved. In 1999 Moscow nullified the peace treaty following the Chechen forces? invasion of the neighbouring Russian republic of Dagestan.This sparked the Second Chechen War. Russian forces invaded the breakaway republic again, occupying its whole territory during the following year.