In what is being seen as further evidence of the shift in power in Russia, it has been announced that President Yeltsin has given up the day-to-day running of the country.

Mr Yeltsin's deputy chief of staff, Oleg Sysuyev, said that during the rest of his term, which expires in the year two-thousand,the president would concentrate on revising the constitution so as to ensure a stable transition to his eventual successor.

The BBC Moscow correspondent says this means the prime minister, Yevgeny Primakov, is taking over most of the President's responsibilities.

Our correspondent says that in practice that has already happened; but he says Mr Yeltsin is now prepared to go one step further and amend the constitution accordingly.