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Putin hopes Russia and Kyrgyzstan will remain close allies

MOSCOW, June 20. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes that Moscow and Bishkek will retain a good relationship after Kyrgyzstan’s new president takes office in October 2017.

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Putin applauds Russian-Kyrgyz relations as developing consistently

"I would like to express the hope that everything you have initiated during your presidency, which is coming to an end in the near future, will last and we will continue along the path of strengthening bilateral relations and improving the situation in the region in general," Putin said as he began talks with Kyrgyzstan’s visiting president Almazbek Atambayev in Moscow on June 20. He described Moscow and Bishkek as "close allies and close and reliable friends."

"We do know the transformations Russia has had to live through at a certain moment and what Kyrgyzstan has been through over the past decade. We do hope that the period of instability is all in the past," Putin said. He hopes that "the situation in Kyrgyzstan has not only returned to stability but developed an irreversible positive development trend."

He congratulated Atambayev upon this achievement.

Putin suggested discussing what has been done lately to shape bilateral relations and what was still to be done along these lines, including in the multilateral formats, such as the Eurasian Economic Union.

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