MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday he hoped the political situation in Kyrgyzstan would quickly stabilize following the recent toppling of its Soviet-era regime.
"I hope that Kyrgyzstan will stabilize in the nearest future and that the organs of power there will become legitimate," the Russian leader said in televised comments from the southern Russian resort of Sochi.
"We are in constant contact with the Kyrgyz parliament and are ready to offer whatever help necessary in order for the situation in the country to normalize," he said after holding talks with Emomali Rakhmonov, the president of Kyrgyzstan's western neighbor Tajikistan.
Askar Akayev, Kyrgyzstan's president since 1990, fled the Central Asian state on March 24 to Russia, after opposition protestors overran the main seat of government in the capital Bishkek.
In Moscow on Monday, he tendered his resignation, but the Kyrgyz parliament has failed to convene for two straight days in order to formally accept it. The chamber is due to meet on Thursday.
04/06/2005 13:45 GMT