Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would visit Uzbekistan on Tuesday to honor the memory of President Islam Karimov, who died last week after suffering a stroke.
Addressing a news conference at the G20 in China, Putin said he hoped the Central Asian's country new leadership would be able to preserve stability. Karimov had ruled the mainly Muslim ex-Soviet nation for 27 years. He was 78.
"One can make different judgments about what he did for his country, one can view various moments in Uzbekistan's modern history differently, but he preserved stability in the country, he preserved its steady development," said Putin.
"New people will come ... I hope very much that they will be able to preserve this stability. For a country like Uzbekistan, it's extremely important, it's just indispensable for its self-preservation and further steady development."
Putin said he also hoped Russia's good relations with Uzbekistan would be maintained.
