Kyrgyzstan, recovering from violent unrest, would like to join the economic zone that Russia has created with Belarus and Kazakhstan, Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev told his counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday, according to Reuters. "Naturally, we see Kyrgyzstan in the customs union, in the common economic space, we see Kyrgyzstan in partnership with Russia," Atambayev said on his first visit to Moscow since being approved as prime minister of the poor, mountainous Central Asian nation last week. Kyrgyzstan suffered deadly ethnic clashes and months of upheaval after a coup in April, but held elections in October and approved a new government this month. Putin promised Atambayev humanitarian aid and said the Kyrgyz government must bring stability to the country's economy. "We hope that you will be able to cope, first of all, with the economic problems that have accumulated in great number following the financial crisis and the turbulent political processes," Putin said. Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan this year created a regional customs union in which imported goods move freely across their combined territory, from the Polish to the Chinese borders. Last month they signed a macroeconomic policy coordination agreement, an important part of their drive to create a free trade zone in 2012.
