ISTANBUL -- World leaders arrived in Istanbul on Wednesday for the millennium's last major summit, set to be dominated by Russia's seven-week military campaign in Chechnya.
President Clinton and European leaders intend to urge Russian President Boris Yeltsin to seek a political solution in Chechnya at the summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is being held in Istanbul Thursday and Friday.Clinton and Yeltsin are due to meet Thursday.
U.S. officials said Clinton would repeat comments he made to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Oslo earlier this month, warning that Russia's military offensive threatened to cause mounting civilian casualties. Thousands of Chechen refugees have fled the region from Russian bombardments.
"Undoubtedly we are going to be talking about Chechnya," U.S. National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said. He was with the Clinton family visiting the ancient site of Ephesus on Turkey's Aegean coast.