Zhirinovsky assures Kyrgyzstan of his good feelings
SOCHI/MOSCOW. May 15 (Interfax) - The leader of the Russian Liberal Democratic Party and its State Duma faction Vladimir Zhirinovsky regards the decision of the Kyrgyz parliament to declare him persona non grata as a mistake and believes that the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry will not support the decision.
"I think I was misunderstood. I did not make any official statement. Only came up with a suggestion of the way to better organize cooperation between our two countries so that Russia could continue helping Kyrgyzstan with loans and Kyrgyzstan would have something to pay with for these loans," Zhirinovsky said.
The initiative of declaring Zhirinovsky persona non grata came from an opposition deputy of the Kyrgyz parliament. She said that Zhirinovsky made insulting comments about her country and said that the Kyrgyz should present Russia Lake Issyk-Kul in gratitude for the write-off of their debts.
"Of course, I did not mean that Issyk-Kul should be literally presented. I suggested options. For instance, there was the option of renting the lake for 49 years so as to promote tourism and establish closer ties between our border territories," Zhirinovsky said.
He said he knows the republic well as he lived there, has relatives there and visited Kyrgyzstan last seven years ago. "I have the very best of feelings for this republic and its people," he assured.
In his opinion, in this case one can speak of "a mistake and misunderstanding."
He voiced hope that the situation will be clarified. "I think the Foreign Ministry of Kyrgyzstan will not follow this path," he added.