 After the Second Chechen War broke out in 1999, Arsanov announced in October that the State Defense Council "had decided to forbid Chechen leaders from conducting negotiations or getting in touch with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin".He also demanded that the Chechens would only meet with the Russians "on neutral ground"; that an international organization would supervise and implement a Russian-Chechen agreement; and that Russian forces would withdraw from Chechnya.In October, Arsanov "ruled out holding political negotiations with Russia, saying that Chechnya expects Europe and the United States to pressure Russia into ending the military operation."