Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Dec.11
By Demir Azizov- Trend:
Uzbek President Islam Karimov and Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed the need to develop the political, economic and humanitarian relations between the two countries.
The remarks were made following the negotiations between the two presidents during the official visit of Putin to Tashkent on Dec.10.
Karimov emphasized Russia's great unifying role in CIS and stabilizing role in Central Asia.
He said the attempts to ignore the harmony of Russian-Uzbek interests have no prospects, as "Uzbekistan has always been and is open for Russia."
Moreover, Uzbek and Russian presidents expressed concern over the situation in Afghanistan in connection with the upcoming withdrawal of peacekeeping forces from this country.
"Russian-Uzbek cooperation in ensuring peace and stability in Central Asia is gaining special relevance," Vladimir Putin said.
Karimov, for his part said that both Russia and Uzbekistan are interested in this issue, adding that it can't be resolved without considering Russia's position.
"We have very similar, in fact identical, positions on the settlement of the situation in Afghanistan," he said.
Russia ranks first among Uzbekistan's trade and economic partners. The volume of trade turnover between the two countries stood at $7 billion as of 2013 and nearly $5 billion as of the first nine months of 2014, according to the data provided by the Uzbek side.
Uzbekistan and Russia signed a number of intergovernmental documents following the recent negotiations.
These documents included an agreement on the main directions of development and deepening of economic cooperation for 2015-2019, an agreement on settlement of mutual financial claims and liabilities, a program of cooperation between the foreign ministries of the two countries and a protocol between the Federal Drug Control Service of the Russian Federation and Uzbekistan's Foreign Ministry on the exchange of results of analyses of drugs and psychotropic substances seized from illegal trafficking.
Edited by SI