The president of Russia Dmitry Medvedev's first visit to the West since his inauguration as president in May will last barely eight hours.

Dmitry Medvedev was inaugurated as Russia's third president on Wednesday in a glittering and solemn ceremony in front of some 2,500 guests at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow as Vladimir Putin stepped down after eight years as head of state.

The United Russia Party holds a convention this week and is expected to ask outgoing Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to head the organization, which controls parliament and can check any presidential attempt to remove the prime minister.

Russian officials say President Vladimir Putin will travel to Libya Wednesday at the invitation of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Dmitri Medvedev, 42, officially becomes president of Russia on May 7. He will succeed Vladimir Putin, who has led the country for eight years. But Mr. Putin will not leave the political scene - Mr. Medvedev has promised to name him prime minister.

European observers said on Monday that Russia's presidential elections reflected the will of voters, but questioned the fairness of the polls.

Reports from Moscow say Russian prosecutors are to open a criminal inquiry into the presidential candidacy of former prime minister, Mikhail Kasyanov.

Vladimir Putin has again proved his mastery of the unexpected political move with his announcement that First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev is his preferred successor.

Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov has been nominated as an opposition candidate in next year's Russian presidential elections. The opposition group, called The Other Russia, has named Mr Kasparov as its presidential candidate.

Viktor Zubkov, President Vladimir Putin's surprise choice as Russia's prime minister, said today he does not rule out running in next year's presidential election.

Boris Yeltsin, the first president of an independent Russia, has died at the age of 76, reportedly of heart failure. Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, son of Siberian peasants, began his career building machines and ended up reshaping a nation. Yeltsin was not born to money or influence. He was born to hunger, on February 1, 1931, in the village of Butka, in Russia's Sverdlovsk Oblast.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decree to merge crude and oil product pipeline operators Transneft and Transnefteproduct within five months, Thompson Financial reported on Monday, April 16, quoting Kremlin press service.