President Yeltsin's doctors have decided not to carry out surgery on his stomach ulcer.

Reports said Mr Yeltsin's medical team had carried out an internal examination and had decided to continue treating him with drugs.

Meanwhile, officials from the International Monetary Fund are arriving in Moscow todayto discuss Russian requests for more loans.

The Russian government has admitted that it cannot afford to service all its foreign debts -- but the BBC Moscow corespondent says IMF officials are reluctant to give further loans to a government which, it believes, is not taking the right steps to sort out its problems.