MOSCOW, June 26  -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday sent condolence over the death of Yevgeny Primakov, who served as Russian prime minister from 1998 to 1999.

"Putin expressed his deep condolence to the families and friends of Primakov," according to an online statement released by the Kremlin.

The Russian president said on many occasions that "Primakov was a statesman, a scientist and a politician, who left a rich heritage," Tass news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.