21.   The talks were also likely to touch on the election campaign for the Russian presidency.

22.   Two former aides to a regional leader and announced candidate for the Russian presidency have confessed to killing an opposition journalist, a news agency reported Tuesday.

23.   Zyuganov, who was defeated for the Russian presidency by Boris Yeltsin last year, is on a five-day visit to the United States.

24.   Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev on Thursday formally launched his bid for the Russian presidency, defying polls showing his popularity at rock-bottom.

25.   However, the permanent spokesman at the Russian presidency was not able to confirm the meeting.

26.   A Russian presidency spokesman said the two leaders were meeting privately but the talks would later be joined by US and Russian delegations.

27.   A statement from the Russian presidency after the talks made no mention of the reinforcements offer.

28.   Clinton gave assurances that the US military deployment in the Gulf was aimed strictly at preventing any Iraqi aggression against Kuwait, the Russian presidency said.

29.   Chechevatov briefly presented himself as a candidate for the Russian presidency last year, before withdrawing from the race eventually won by Yeltsin.

30.   The powerful Most group is considered close to Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, who is portrayed as a possible future contender for the Russian presidency.