MOSCOW, May 28. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia keeps closely following all political developments in Abkhazia and maintains that all domestic political contradictions in the neighboring republic must be solved by legal means, Grigory Karasin, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, said on Wednesday.

Thousands of protesters gathered on Tuesday in central Sukhum, the republic’s capital, demanding the government’s resignation over alleged corruption, mismanagement and stagnation in the republic. President of Abkhazia Alexander Ankvab announced that Tuesday’s protests were an attempt to overthrow the government by force.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said Moscow was “concerned over the deterioration of the political situation in Abkhazia, where the opposition staged demonstrations on May 27.”

“Russia is attentively and with great concern following the developments in the friendly republic and believes it is highly important that all public and political processes there (in Abkhazia) progress exclusively within the legal frame,” Karasin said after the telephone conversation with Abkhaz Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Chirikba on Wednesday.

The Russian diplomat also said they both agreed that “the soonest stabilization of the political situation in Abkhazia is in the interests of the gradual development of relations between Russia and Abkhazia.”

Abkhazia’s Security Council Secretary Nugzar Ashuba said earlier that Russia’s presidential aide Vladislav Surkov and Security Council Deputy Secretary Rashid Nurgaliyev were expected to arrive in the republic later in the afternoon to help mediate the settlement of the situation.