1.   The Russian president has once again proved more than a match for his political adversaries.

2.   Both spoke highly of the Russian president.

3.   Let me carry on with this same erm position of John Major erm meeting the Russian president.

4.   Although some of the summit leaders have criticized Yeltsin for ordering a brutal crackdown in Chechnya, the Russian president found some sympathy in Halifax.

5.   Although the Russian president is notoriously unpredictable and could change his mind again, he appears to have turned full control of government actions over to Chernomyrdin.

6.   Analysts said the Russian president has his work cut out for him.

7.   Analysts say he is one of a handful of men with the ear of the Russian president.

8.   And therein lies the challenge for the newly elected Russian president.

9.   And yet it is doubtful whether any Russian president, in the post-Soviet maelstrom, could have exerted control over a country so vast.

10.   And, in fact, President Vladimir Putin is to make the first visit by a Russian president to North Korea this year, probably in July.