Analysts point to Kremlin’s key role in border demarcation between Chechnya and Dagestan

The dispute around the border between Chechnya and Dagestan will be won by the side supported by the federal centre, and any full-fledged negotiations will unlikely take place between the republics. This opinion was voiced by Ruslan Kutaev, the president of the Assembly of Caucasian Nations, and political analyst Ali Magomadov.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on June 2, the Dagestani Deputy Ministry for State Property admitted that there are disputed areas on the border between Chechnya and Dagestan, the fate of which must be decided through negotiations.

It is the Kremlin that insists on the demarcation of the borders between Chechnya and Dagestan, while the Chechen authorities would not raise the topic of borders without agreement with the federal centre or direct instructions from above, Ruslan Kutaev, the president of the Assembly of Caucasian Nations, suggests.

“For some reason, the established borders are being reconsidered. The Caucasian wound of the redistribution of lands inflicted during the Chechen-Ingush demarcation is being opened again. Chechen and Ingush natives are almost at war because of the redistribution of lands! And there is no word of ‘agreement’ in such a situation. Chechnya will only ask the Kremlin if the federal centre allows them changing borders. The decision will come from above,” Ruslan Kutaev told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

According to Ruslan Kutaev, it is not important how Sergey Melikov (the acting leader of Dagestan, – note of the “Caucasian Knot”) will behave in the border negotiations, because it is not him who makes the decision on demarcation. “The decision comes from above, and, therefore, no experience is important,” Ruslan Kutaev explained. He suggests that Chechnya is already actually using the disputed land plots and that fact speaks of the Kremlin’s willingness to finally transfer those lands to the republic.

The problem of the disputed areas is created artificially, political analyst Ali Magomadov suggests. “There have never been any conflicts between residents of those two republics. However, someone needs to raise the dispute about the borders. I think neither Chechnya nor Dagestan will benefit from the existence of such a problem,” the political analyst said.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 10, 2021 at 07:46 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.