Kremlin wishes speedy recovery to Uzbek president
MOSCOW. Aug 29 (Interfax) - Moscow expresses profound regret over the illness of Uzbek President Islam Karimov and considers it inappropriate to raise the question of possible destabilization of the situation in the republic, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"We express our profound regret over the Uzbek president's illness. Certainly, Moscow wishes a speedy recovery to him," Peskov said.
"We receive information from media and through the diplomatic channels, nothing more. We have no specific knowledge of that," he said.
Replying to a question as to whether the Kremlin is concerned that in case of the illness concluding unfavorably, the situation in Uzbekistan may escalate, Peskov said: "I believe it is inappropriate to raise such a question."
"I would like to repeat again: the Kremlin wishes a speedy recovery to the Uzbek president," he said.
Moscow "values the relations with Uzbekistan in line with the plans which were proposed following the recent contacts of the presidents of our countries," Peskov said.
"There is a fair amount of the tasks of the development of the bilateral relations on the agenda and we indeed would want to receive only positive news on the [Uzbek] president's health," he said.