Moscow  - Approval of a Kremlin bill to extend the presidential term from four to six years will be fast-tracked by the legislature and enacted by Friday, Russia's parliamentary committee on constitutional legislation said Wednesday.

Medvedev announced he was seeking the constitutional amendment in his first state-of-the-nation address last week.

Brussels - When the leaders of Russia and the European Union meet in the French resort of Nice on Friday, they are more likely to talk about the current financial crisis than the crisis in their own relationship sparked by Russia's war with Georgia, diplomats say.

"It's fair to guess that Georgia won't be the focus of the French presidency at the summit. They will definitely cover it, but it won't be the number one issue," an EU diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Moscow - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has submitted a bill to parliament on extending the presidential term from four to six years, a Kremlin spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Medvedev announced he was seeking the constitutional amendment in his state-of-the-nation address last week.

His administration can easily muster the two-thirds majority in parliament needed to enact the change after the dominant pro-Kremlin party headed by his predecessor Vladimir Putin swept the polls in last years' vote.

But legal experts say the term extensions would only apply to future presidents.

Moscow - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sought to ease fears Tuesday over the possibility of Russia joining an Opec-style cartel of gas exporting countries, he said in talks with his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Nazif.

"We support this idea. But we know about apprehensions and even fears voiced by certain energy consumers," Putin was quoted by news agency Interfax as saying. "I wish to state once and for all: there are no grounds for such fears."

Moscow - Cuban Foreign Minsiter Felipe Perez Roque met with Russian leaders in Moscow on Tuesday in the latest sign of strengthening military and economic ties between the Soviet-era allies.

Roque carried an invitation for an official visit to President Dmitry Medvedev from Cuban leader Raul Castro, news agency Interfax reported.

"We have overcome the pause that appeared in our relations in the past decade, and today our contacts are intensive and positive," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in televised comments. "Cuba has been and remains one of our key partners in Latin America."

Moscow - Russian arms manufacturers need urgent help from the state to meet their defence orders amid the global credit crunch, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said Tuesday.

Russia is the world's second-largest weapons exporter after the United States, and the Kremlin's aggressive salesmanship has produced a flush of billion-dollar deals in recent months.

But the industry is facing a cash drought that is threatening state-owned manufacturers' ability to carry through contracts, the news agency Interfax cited Ivanov as saying.