Mr Putin's place will be taken by Russia's prime minister, Mikhail Kasyanov.

ECONOMIST: Time for a decision | The

As it turned out, General Alexander Lebed was looking thoroughly out of place in President Vladimir Putin's Russia when he died this week in a helicopter crash in his Siberian fief of Krasnoyarsk.

ECONOMIST: A populist Russian general

All the politics takes place in the brain of Vladimir Putin, and he is a trained KGB man, and so he's pretty good at keeping his own counsel.

NPR: Looking Into Putin's Soul Again

Meanwhile Mr Blair will attend the TUC and Labour party conferences, both taking place in Blackpool, and visit President Putin as part of the campaign of persuasion.

BBC: Blair returns with hardened resolve

Russian President Vladimir Putin now says Moscow would back a UN resolution to place an international troop presence in Iraq, even under American military command.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: chirac_annan

Or, despairing of the prospects of the outgoing prime minister, Sergei Stepashin, successfully carrying the democratic torch in an election, he could simply be putting in place an alternative, in the person of Vladimir Putin.

ECONOMIST: Russian roulette

Putting Putin in a position of even greater resource power can only lead one place: to high oil prices and an amazing bull market in energy.

FORBES: Vladimir Putin Is The New Global Shah Of Oil

He used to be Mr Putin's boss in St Petersburg, but early signs that he might find a place in the president's team proved misleading.

ECONOMIST: Putin versus the oligarchs?

Only the Duma, Russia's parliament, can reject the treaty with authority, and only the two men's boss, President Vladimir Putin, can decide when and whether to submit it to the Duma for approval in the first place.

ECONOMIST: Climate change

"Orthodoxy, which occupies a special place in Russian history, continues to play a paramount role in preserving the moral pillars, " Mr Putin said.

BBC: Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas