Akayev 'can go to Moscow'
2005-03-25 13:41
Yerevan, Armenia - Moscow will not object if Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev wants to go to Russia, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, according to the Interfax news agency, but he also praised the opposition leaders of the Central Asian nation.
Speaking in Armenia, Putin said the situation in Kyrgyzstan resulted from the authorities' weakness and the social and economic problems that had accumulated there.
He said that the opposition leaders had contributed to developing Russian-Kyrgyz relations, but added sternly that he regretted that the use of "illegal" means to resolve the problems facing Kyrgyzstan, which resulted in "pogroms and victims," Interfax reported.
- AP