"What took place in Uzbekistan alarms us, too, but unlike some other countries we are not going to denounce anyone, make headlong conclusions, and pressurize anyone," he said to a news conference following a Russia-NATO Council session.
As he sees it, last May's public unrest in Andizhan was partly due to bad social and economic problems in Uzbekistan. "Radicals, extremists and terrorists are making use of objective hardships to get their own ends," he added.
Russian evaluation of the Andizhan riots coincides, in certain aspects, with other countries' opinions-but it is political appraisals that matter most in this particular situation, said the minister.
He highlighted another alarming point: Russia does not know to this day the whereabouts of weaponry stolen from one of Uzbek arsenals.
