Speaking at a news conference about terrorist acts in Grozny and Volgograd, Mr Putin said: “Either we get rid of the bandits and terrorists there, or, if we flinch, Russia will have to deal with this bleeding wound beyond Chechnya.”
The President was confident that his upcoming talks with US President Bill Clinton would be positive. The United States and its current administration have been Russia’s partner in talks for many years. According to Mr Putin, there is no reason to believe that the upcoming talks would not contribute to further positive development of Russian-US relations.
Talking about his trip to Yaroslavl, the President said that the issues touched upon by business leaders at the meeting had made the situation clearer. Mr Putin said that the meeting participants had mapped out measures to support regional enterprises which should also be reviewed by the Government and the Russian Security Council.