The leaders of Russia and China on Friday called for calm in Kyrgyzstan.

Seventeen people have been killed and 201 others wounded in riots in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh, Health Ministry spokeswoman Svetlana Baitikova said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told a summit of regional leaders in Uzbekistan that Russia wanted a swift end to the unrest in neighboring Kyrgyzstan, a country that hosts both U.S. and Russian military bases.

"We hope there will be a swift stabilisation of the situation in Kyrgyzstan," Chinese President Hu Jintao said through a Russian translator. "China continues to help Kyrgyzstan as much as it can."

Reuters