RUSSIA-CHECHNYA . . . A WAR OF WORDS

Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin offered today to negotiate face-to-face with the leader of separatist Chechnya, but Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudayev said only a complete Russian pullout from the insurgent Caucasian republic would end the conflict. Even so, Dudayev ordered his fighters to cease fire and pull back inside the capital, Grozny, this afternoon to avoid Russian shelling. "The Chechen people will stay to the end," he declared. "We have no other way." Chernomyrdin, who has toned down Russian rhetoric after President Boris Yeltsin extended until Saturday a deadline for Chechen surrender, emphasized his negotiation offer with ominous talk of a "definite solution" at the hands of up to 40,000 Russian troops if the Chechens don't give up. Several hundred civilians have reportedly been killed in the conflict, as well as up to 70 Russian soldiers.Post your opinion on theInternationalbulletin board.