…LEAVING SERGEI KRYLOV IN CHARGE.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said January 5 that Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Krylov would temporarily take control of the Foreign Ministry. First Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, who outranks Krylov, was said to be on vacation and will return early this week. It is unclear whether Ivanov will then take command of the ministry. The ministry spokesman said that the president’s office was consulting over a replacement for Kozyrev. (2) Meanwhile, Russian Federation Council chairman Vladimir Shumeiko, mentioned as a possible successor to Kozyrev, said he was not interested in the job, while the Liberal Democratic party proposed that Vladimir Zhirinovsky be named to the post. (3)

Electoral Commission Sets Presidential Timetable.