President Boris Yeltsin held several official meetings and phone conversations Monday, significantly increasing his workload as he recuperates from a heart ailment in the hospital, officials said.
Yeltsin's working time has been "considerably expanded," said presidential spokesman Sergei Medvedev.
"Starting from today, Russian President Boris Yeltsin's working schedule will be the same as if he were in the Kremlin," Medvedev told Itar-Tass.
Apart from close aide Viktor Ilyushin, who has been a regular visitor, the president met with three other top assistants he had not seen since he was hospitalized Oct. 26 with his second bout of heart trouble in four months, Interfax reported.
Yeltsin is not expected back at work before December.
The Kremlin has released few details of his illness, fueling speculation about Yeltsin's health. But earlier this month, the 64-year-old president began receiving officials and issuing orders from his hospital bed.
On Monday, Yeltsin discussed the parliament election campaign with Georgy Satarov, his political adviser, and also received Vladimir Shevchenko, his chief of protocol to plan his schedule for the coming week.
He also met with his chief of staff Sergei Filatov and received reports of Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev, Defense Minister Pavel Grachev and Foreign Intelligence Service chief Yevgeny Primakov over the phone.
Yeltsin was also due to meet Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Tuesday. The meeting with Nazarbayev would be his first with a foreign leader since he was taken ill. ()
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