Yevkurov: "It was spontaneous - neither I nor Ramzan thought of it"

The head of Ingushetia, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, spoke about his talks with the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, during which an agreement securing the border between the republics was reached.

Yevkurov explained that  previously, from 2009 or 2010, he had repeatedly discussed this topic with the head of Chechnya. The trigger for the talks was "among other things" the reaction of the Ingushetia residents, who found the Chechenautodor road bulldozer in the Chechnya border area.

"The road going to Arshty through the territory of Ingushetia was owned by Chechenautodor. When the Chechen machinery began to build this road, for some reason everyone decided that Chechens came to the territory of Ingushetia," RBC cited Yevkurov as saying.

The head of Ingushetia stressed that this state of affairs is not unique: the road going from Ingushetia to Chechnya's village of Assinovskaya is owned by Ingushautodor.

Answering the question of why the residents of Ingushetia did not know about the preparation of the agreement, Yevkurov clarified that some officials and public figures were aware of the situation, and the intensive preparation for concluding the document lasted for a month before his meeting with Kadyrov took place.

He added that, being the head of the republic, he did not have the right to publicize non-approved documents that might have undergone any changes. Yevkurov indicated that the federal authorities and other intermediaries have no relation to the final agreement.

In addition, Yevkurov noted that the agreement was based on the agreements of the 1990s.

On October 10, head of the Chechen republic Ramzan Kadyrov visited Ingushetia, where he met with head of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Yevkurov.

"I visited populated areas in the Achkhoi-Martan district of Chechnya today. I met with residents of Bamut," Kadyrov said on his Telegram channel.

"The main and a very pleasant outcome of the conversation is that the Chechen and Ingush people are brothers, and there are no issues that could divide them," he noted.

The head of the Chechen republic said everyone with whom he talked spoke very warmly about the people living in Ingushetia.

"I learned there that head of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Yevkurov was in the nearby communities at the moment. I called him. We agreed to meet, and I traveled to Ingushetia. We spoke very warmly and shared news of our republics," Interfax cited Kadyrov as saying.

"We once again shared the opinion that nothing should ever trouble relations between the Chechen and Ingush people. We are brothers, and we are united! I asked [Yevkurov] to pass my very good wishes to the Ingush people," the Chechen leader stressed.

On September 26, Kadyrov and Yevkurov signed an agreement securing the border between the two Russian republics.