Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday urged a swift restoration of democracy in Egypt, where President Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down by mass protests.

"Russia hopes democratic procedures in Egypt will be fully restored and all legitimate electoral procedures will be used for this," Medvedev said in a statement.

The president stressed the importance of religious freedoms, saying "Russia considers it extremely important that Egypt retains peace and unity between different sectarians."

Medvedev also called for Egypt and Russia to continue boosting their strategic partnership.

Earlier on Saturday, Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow hoped the restoration of order in Egypt will be nonviolent.

"We hope that the process of Egypt's recovery from the crisis will be nonviolent and aimed at the strengthening of the democratic rule in this key Arabian country," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich.

Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman announced late Friday that Mubarak has ended his presidency and handed power to the army after nearly 30 years in office.