Moscow - A Kremlin bill to extend the presidential term from four to six years was a vote shy of being unanimously approved by lawmakers in its third and final reading Friday in Russia's lower house of parliament.

The bill was backed by 449 of the 450 seat house dominated by pro-Kremlin party United Russia, esaily more than the two-thirds majority needed for constitutional amendments.

While President Dmitry Medvedev launched the draft law, constitutional experts say the law would not apply to him.

Many analysts say he is just a seat warmer setting the way for 12 more years of Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. Currently serving as prime minister, Putin has not ruled out another presidential term.

Madrid - Spain's opposition Thursday expressed concern over the possibility of the oil and gas company Repsol YPF coming partly under Russian control.

Companies from outside the European Union should not get involved with strategic sectors in Spain, Cristobal Montoro of the conservative People's Party (PP) said amid reports that the Russian oil giant Lukoil was planning to swoop for just under 30 per cent of Repsol's stock.

Moscow - Russia said Thursday it would deploy more warships to battle piracy in the seas off the coast of Somalia, a top navy commander announced.

"After the Neustrashimy, Russia will be sending warships from other fleets to this region to the region," Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky said, alluding to a warship, the Fearless, now patrolling the coast, news agency Ria-Novosti reported.

The measures are being taken because of "the current situation off the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden, where Somali pirates have sharply increased their activities," he said.

Moscow - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday the nation would rely on its massive reserve fund to emerge from the crisis ahead of other world economies, halt inflation and a fall in the ruble.

Putin's address at the congress of his party United Russia was full of economic patriotism, aimed at calming fears of coming shocks from the worst financial turbulence the country has seen in over a decade.

Madrid - The Spanish government will do all it can to keep the oil firm Repsol "independent and Spanish," Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian said Thursday, amid rumours that Russian oil giant Lukoil was considering a swoop for up to a third of the company's stock.

Spanish national radio reported that Lukoil was reportedly targeting a 20-per-cent stake in Repsol held by the construction company Sacyr Vallehermoso, which has been hit by Spain's construction crisis.

Criteria, a holding company of La Caixa bank, meanwhile admitted that it had maintained "informal contacts" with an unidentified party about the possibility of selling all or part of its 12.5 per cent stake in Repsol.

Berlin  - The global financial crisis could present the international community with the chance to lay aside the recent tensions that have emerged with Russia, World Bank chief Robert Zoellick said in a speech delivered in Berlin Wednesday.

"Relations with Russia have been strained in recent years," Zoellick told an audience at Berlin's Humboldt University.