Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 23
By Nigar Guliyeva- Trend:
Moscow and Tashkent have established a trusting political dialogue, the tone of which is set by contacts at the highest level, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a meeting with Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov on Feb.23, Tass reports.
"We are glad to see your interdepartmental delegation, which has held different meetings in Moscow," Lavrov said. "We value our trustful dialogue, the tone of which is set by contacts at the highest level."
He further added that the state visit of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Russia in April 2017 was a turning point in the development of bilateral relations.
"We value the close coordination of actions through the Foreign Ministry," the minister said, "The foreign ministries have a responsibility to monitor the implementation of the agreements reached at the highest level. Today we will sign the Plan of the inter-ministerial consultations for 2018-2019, and I expect very useful negotiations. "
The trade turnover between Russia and Uzbekistan for 2017 increased by almost 34 percent, to $3.65 billion compared to the previous year.
"Uzbekistan is one of Russia's leading economic partners in the CIS. Russia's share in the total volume of Uzbekistan's foreign trade hit 18.1 percent in 2017.