Vladimir Putin warned that he will not allow other countries to meddle in Russian affairs.

He was speaking at a reception for foreign diplomats at the Grand Kremlin Palace.

The Russian president accused the US of trying to undermine Sunday's general election by influencing a decision by the OSCE's election monitors to pull out of observing the vote.

He said: "We have done everything to safeguard Russia from internal disturbances and to put it firmly on the track of evolutionary development. We will not allow this process to be adjusted from the outside."

One of the leaders of the Russian opposition, Boris Nemtsov, staged a one-man picket outside the jail where fellow opposition politician Garry Kasparov is being held.

He explained: "His plan is to make Russia a third-world country, to turn it into Saudi Arabia - a rich country with poor people. This is his ideal, to keep people quiet, to put great people in jail and to squander our country's resources. We will not allow him to do that."

Kasparov was sentenced to five days in prison when he was arrested at a protest at the weekend.