SHANGHAI, Oct 17: The United States will press Russia on finding a political solution to the rebellion in the breakaway republic of Chechnya in talks here this week, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said late on Wednesday.

“We will be encouraging them ... to seek a political solution, to move aggressively toward a political solution and not to think that it can be solved militarily,” Powell said ahead of talks Thursday with his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov.

That meeting will set the stage for talks on Sunday between US President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of a meeting of leaders from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Powell said that Washington recognized that Moscow had to deal with terrorist acts and threats emanating from Chechen separatists but stressed that it should do so without branding all Chechens “terrorists.”

“We are anxious to work with them and we recognize that they have to fight terrorist activities in Chechnya (but) they have to do it in a way that reflects solid consideration of human rights and past atrocities that we know took place,” he said.—AFP