World

Yeltsin Visits The Kremlin

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

February 4, 1999 / 8:16 AM EST / CBS

President Boris Yeltsin, who has been recovering from a bleeding ulcer at a country sanitarium, made his second trip of the year to his Kremlin office on Thursday.

A Kremlin spokeswoman said the president had arrived at the Kremlin shortly after midday, but gave no further details.

Earlier, Yeltsin held talks with Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov and the presidential chief of staff, Nikolai Bordyuzha, at the Barvikha sanatorium on the outskirts of the capital.

Russian television showed a brief silent film clip issued by the Kremlin that showed Yeltsin, in a business suit, listening to Primakov and Bordyuzha.

A Kremlin spokesman said the three discussed preparations for a meeting of the advisory Security Council on Friday, which Yeltsin, who turned 68 on Monday, is not expected to attend.

It was unclear whether Yeltsin's visit to the Kremlin had been planned before Primakov went out to Barvikha. The prime minister, now in charge of the day-to-day running of the country, headed back to Moscow after his meeting with Yeltsin to chair a weekly cabinet meeting.

Yeltsin briefly visited the Kremlin on Tuesday for the first time this year. He left hospital last Saturday after two weeks of treatment for the ulcer and has been staying at Barvikha.

Yeltsin has suffered a spate of repeated illnesses over the past several months, beginning with his collapse during an official visit to central Asia late last year. His reported maladies have included pneumonia and exhaustion and have led to widespread calls by parliament members for him to step down.