The Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday turned down a three-day cease-fire proposed by Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov.

Maskhadov's proposal is nothing but an attempt to gain more time for regrouping, said a ministry spokesman.

Maskhadov issued a statement early Wednesday calling on Moscow to announce a truce from June 8 to 11.

The statement, circulated in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia, was sent to OSCE (the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) chairman Knut Vollebaek by Chechen envoy to Georgia Khizri Aldamov.

Tbilisi-based Chechen representatives told reporters that "the demand to announce a moratorium was caused by facts concerning the use of chemical weapons in Grozny by Russian troops."

Maskhadov invited Russian and foreign experts to get informed "on material evidence of the Russian side using chemical weapons in Chechnya's capital."

However, Russia quickly refused Maskhadov's proposal.

"It is clear that radicals themselves prepared vessels with chemicals" to stop the federal offensive against Grozny, the Defense Ministry spokesman said.

The Russian military has repeatedly denied guerrillas' allegations on the use of chemical weapons by Russians in Grozny, accusing Chechen rebels of setting off several containers full of ammonia and chorine to stop the federal units.

At the same day, the head of the Georgian Foreign Ministry public relations department, Avtandil Napetvaridze, said that "Tbilisi has not recognized and will not recognize Chechnya as an independent state." Thus, Aldamov who poses as Chechen envoy to Georgia does not have "any diplomatic status," said Napetvaridze. (Xinhua)