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Elena Dementieva, who saved four match points before beating Francesca Schiavone, and Elena Bovina won their singles to seal the victory.

Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams easily won their singles as the US romped to a 5-0 win over Belgium.

In the other matches, Spain won their doubles match to beat Argentina 3-2 and France crushed Austria 4-1.

Davenport, who has won her last 23 Fed Cup matches, said that the Williams sisters have promised her they would travel to Russia for the semi-final.

"When we were walking on court, I made them promise they would go," said Davenport.

"That's assuming we all stay healthy. It would be a special tie. We're all looking forward to it."

Dementieva, the world number five, was on the back foot in the first set against an aggressive Schiavone who won it 6-4.

However, the Italian lost her nerve when presented with her match points in the second set and the tie-break went Dementieva's way 7-2.

I didn't breathe easily until the last point Spain coach Miguel Margets

After letting victory slip out of her grasp, Schiavone was routed in the third set and lost 4-6 7-6 6-0.

Bovina then beat Maria-Elena Camerin 6-3 3-6 6-2 in the final singles.

"I never had any fear of losing not even during those four match points against me," said Dementieva.

Russia were missing their three grand slam singles champions - Anastasia Myskin, Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova - but they should all be available for the semi-final.

Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues and Nuria Llagostera Vives combined for the first time in competition to beat Argentina's Gisela Dulko and Maria-Emilia Salerni 6-4 6-4 and clinch an overall 3-2 victory.

"I didn't breathe easily until the last point," said Spain coach Miguel Margets. "We're really proud because we're among the four best teams in the world, and that was our goal coming in."

Virginie Razzano and Nathalie Dechy won their reverse singles matches and then their doubles match to ensure France's emphatic victory.

Razzano, who replaced the injured Amelie Mauresmo, beat Yvonne Meusburger 6-3 7-6 (7-2).

Dechy trailed 5-2 to 14-year-old Tamira Paszek but won a tie-break and eased through the next set 6-2.