Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the situation in Kazakhstan with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi over the phone, the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry reported.

“Both sides expressed firm support for the efforts of the Kazakh leadership to restore constitutional order in the country,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It is clarified that the ministers were unanimous in assessing the events in Kazakhstan, and also stressed their concern about the intervention of external forces, including the participation of foreign mercenaries in attacks on civilians and law enforcement officials.

“The decisive actions of the President of Kazakhstan Tokayev were timely and proportionate to the scale of the threat the republic faced,” the Russian Foreign Ministry noted.

Earlier, the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, said that the economic damage from unrest in Kazakhstan could amount to $ 2-3 billion.

Mass protests began in Kazakhstan on January 2, with citizens expressing dissatisfaction with the two-fold increase in prices for liquefied gas. In Alma-Ata, the largest city of the republic, riots, looting, attacks on state institutions and security forces began. The country's authorities declared a state of emergency in the country until January 19 and launched a counter-terrorist operation. According to the UN, during the protests in the republic, about 1 thousand people were injured, the Ministry of Internal Affairs informed about the death of 17 Kazakhstani security officials and more than 1.3 thousand injured.

bbabo.Net