The New York Times has always been tone-deaf to Islamic terrorism (except for a very small window shortly after September 11, 2001) and prone to counseling appeasement, but this editorial plumbs new depths for them.

The day after 156 children were slaughtered—after three days of torture, rape, and fear—the New York Times editorial staff calls for Vladimir Putin to negotiate with the terrorists: Deadly Stalemate in Chechnya.

Moscow has responded to the Chechen issue mainly with force and intransigence. That has been politically popular among a majority of Russians, and it has undoubtedly been satisfying for Mr. Putin to present himself as a resolute, tough leader. The practical consequence, however, has been that an already dreadful problem is now very much worse.

Ten years have passed and thousands on both sides have died since Boris Yeltsin invaded the restive republic, which is largely Muslim, to force it to remain within the Russian Federation. Mr. Putin resumed the war and made it his own. Moscow was sure that its larger armed forces would deliver a quick and decisive victory. Instead, the contest has evolved into a military and political stalemate without any obvious resolution. A bold Russian reach for compromise is now the least bad option, but it is the one Mr. Putin is least likely to employ.

Mr. Putin has successfully routed mainstream Chechen separatists under the republic’s last freely elected president, Aslan Maskhadov, on the conventional battlefield. But that just created an opening for the murderous extremists who have been slaughtering innocent bystanders in recent days.

President Putin has never been strong on diplomatic nuance. But unless he now opens a serious negotiating channel with legitimate Chechen leaders outside the Moscow-backed puppet government, things can only get worse. And if they do, Russia will not be the only nation that pays the price.