Russian lawmaker shocked with abrupt resignation of Kazakhstan's Nazarbayev

Valentina Matvienko, the speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament, said on Tuesday that the resignation of Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president of Kazakhstan, was unexpected and very serious, a Russian news agency reported. Nazarbayev was in power from April 1990 after the country gained independence from the Soviet Union. Nazarbayev enjoys a strong working relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the speaker of the upper house of parliament, is taking over as the country's acting president for the remainder of his term in line with the constitution.