EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - Uzbekistan: Russian President to Visit Tashkent

EURASIA INSIGHT

UZBEKISTAN: RUSSIAN PRESIDENT TO VISIT TASHKENT
1/05/09

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will begin a two-day visit to Uzbekistan on January 22, his first since he became the titular chief executive in the Kremlin last year.

The Russian head-of-state said he attached "major importance to the bilateral preparation of our forthcoming talks in Tashkent that are to give a weighty impulse to the building up of mutually advantageous cooperation in all spheres," according to a report distributed by the news website CA-news.org on January 5.

In his New Year’s message to Uzbek President Islam Karimov, Medvedev said the "outgoing year was marked by the further strengthening of Russian-Uzbekistani relations based on the solid principles of strategic partnership and alliance. Intensive dialogue at various levels is playing an important role in the development of versatile bilateral ties."

"Uzbekistan for us is a key strategic partner in Central Asia. We have recently registered the trade-economic relations’ growth, opportunities for new projects are emerging, there are big plans for the future," he added.

Responding to Medvedev’s message, President Karimov said that "Uzbekistan entirely supports Russia’s foreign policy course," adding that the two countries "have a similar stance."

"There are no undercurrents that could change this state of affairs," Karimov continued.

The Central Eurasia Project aims, through its website, meetings, papers, and grants, to foster a more informed debate about the social, political and economic developments of the Caucasus and Central Asia. It is a program of the Open Society Institute-New York. The Open Society Institute-New York is a private operating and grantmaking foundation that promotes the development of open societies around the world by supporting educational, social, and legal reform, and by encouraging alternative approaches to complex and controversial issues.

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the position of the Open Society Institute and are the sole responsibility of the author or authors.