Sergei Vasilyev, a senior Kremlin aide, was also on the trip.

Even senior Kremlin aides agree that Russia is exhausted by its political war with itself.

A Kremlin aide was dispatched to the city to report on the situation.

Nor, despite foot-shuffling and hurried excuses from Kremlin aides, was there much evidence that he would take it back.

Kremlin aides say the President's inaugural address will last only 10 minutes.

A Geneva judge has found a former Kremlin aide guilty of money laundering and ordered him to pay a $177,000 fine.

"It was not a sudden phenomenon," one Kremlin aide said.

Still, in view of the nervous political condition, a vote to impeach could carry major political consequences, a Kremlin aide warned.

Kremlin aides insisted that this time it really was nothing more than a cold and that there were no plans for the President to enter a hospital.

"We want to make sure there is no unnecessary pressure on the President, his family and his doctors," a Kremlin aide said.