His doctors say he is suffering from exhaustion and uneven blood pressure and is expected to stay at the remote location for about two weeks.

The Black Sea residence where Mr Yeltsin will spend the next two weeks

Mr Yeltsin was escorted to his plane by his Prime Minister, Yevgeny Primakov, after a meeting between the two leaders on Friday.

They discussed the European Union meeting in Austria, which Mr Primakov attended on Tuesday in place of the president.

The prime minister also briefed Mr Yeltsin about his talks on Thursday with Chechen leaders, according to the Interfax news agency.

Reduced political role

The president's departure follows an announcement by a senior aide earlier this week that the he was no longer involved in the day-to-day running of the country.

The aide, Oleg Sysuyev, acknowledged that the president had turned control over the economy to Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov.

Mr Sysuyev said in an interview in the London-based Financial Times newspaper that Mr Yeltsin will outline his new reduced political role in an address to parliament early next year.