Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with his Cabinet as Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, left, looks on (File)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dissolved the government.

Russian officials and news reports say Mr. Putin dismissed the government Wednesday after Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov offered his resignation.

The reports say Mr. Fradkov decided to urge Mr. Putin to dissolve the government because of upcoming major political events, and a desire to give the president the full freedom to make decisions about staff.

Russia is set to hold parliamentary elections in December. Presidential elections are to be held three months after that.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.