Russia’s President Marks 67th Birthday

MOSCOW — Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin turns 67 today, still firmly in control despite saying last week that he will not seek a third term as head of state in 2000.

On Saturday, he held informal talks with Ukrainian President Leonid D. Kuchma at the presidential residence just northwest of Moscow. The leaders of the two most powerful former Soviet republics agreed to expand their recently improved relations.

Also Saturday, Yeltsin ordered his special envoy, Viktor Posuvalyuk, back to Iraq for the second time in a week to pursue the search for a peaceful solution to the increasingly tense standoff between Baghdad and U.N. arms inspectors. Posuvalyuk was scheduled to travel to Baghdad today.

The Kremlin had not released any official plans for Yeltsin’s birthday celebration, but his wife, Naina, was quoted by Russian media as saying it would be a quiet family party at the country residence.