Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says he hopes Kyrgyzstan will be able to swiftly integrate into the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).
Lavrov made his comments after a meeting with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Erlan Abdyldaev in Moscow on September 4.
Lavrov said Bishkek's joining of the Customs Union -- which officially becomes the EEU on January 1 -- will help Kyrgyzstan to meet major economic goals and "solve many challenges."
The Kyrgyz government says it hopes to officially join the Russia-led Customs Union by the end of 2014.
In May, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev and the leaders of the Customs Union's member-states -- Vladimir Putin of Russia, Nursultan Nazarbaev of Kazakhstan, and Alyaksandr Lukashenka of Belarus -- signed a "road map" for Kyrgyzstan to join the group.
The issue of whether to join the Customs Union has been fiercely debated in Kyrgyzstan.
