ST. PETERSBURG, December 13. /TASS/. The protest situation in Mongolia’s capital of Ulaanbaatar is the country’s domestic affair, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko told reporters on the sidelines of the 13th Asian Conference of the Valdai International Discussion Club on Tuesday.

"This is their domestic affair. We know and understand the reasons behind it. They need to deal with the crisis on their own and I am sure that this will be the case," the diplomat said in response to a TASS request for comment on the situation in Mongolia.

A protest rally triggered by dissatisfaction over an investigation into a case on coal exports to China which bypassed customs control broke out in Ulaanbaatar on December 4. On December 5, protesters tried to storm the Government Palace. Demonstrators demanded to name the suspects, claiming there were high-ranking officials among them. On December 7, the Mongolian prime minister announced the creation of a working group to investigate the case, which will include up to 100 protesters along with government officials.