Long stop in Tashkent

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived on a working visit to Uzbekistan, where he met with the head of the republic, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The visit began on the evening of May 26. But, to the surprise of many (perhaps even the presidential protocol), on May 27, Vladimir Putin decided to stay another night, and this afternoon he and Mirziyoyev will give a big press conference.

This suggests that the discussion of current issues of bilateral relations and the international agenda went beyond any schedules and formalities. There are really a lot of questions.

Details - in the material of the correspondent of The Moscow Post.

Interestingly, many media have already written about the completion of the visit. The President of Uzbekistan called the arrival of his colleague historical, anticipated that he would open a new era in relations between the two countries.

Note that together with Putin, a huge delegation flew to Tashkent, which included the heads of many state corporations, heads of subjects and law enforcement agencies. Which clearly goes beyond the standard "working" visit - the aim is clearly on the strategic nature of the agreements.

As a result of the conversation, on May 27, they prepared a solid package of documents in the field of trade, commerce, peaceful atom and support for the Russian language. Of course, a significant part of what was discussed was not included in the documents.

Among the key agreements reached: the head of Rosatom Alexei Likhachev and the director of Uzatom Azim Akhmedkhadzhaev agreed to cooperate in the construction of a nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan; The Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan and Gazprom Neft adopted a roadmap for expanding cooperation; the ministries of health of the two countries signed protocols on health and drug regulation.

In addition, the Ministry of Digital Industry of Uzbekistan and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia agreed to exchange experience in the formation and development of the aviation systems industry, and the chairman of the tourism committee of Uzbekistan Umid Shadiev and the head of Sberbank German Gref exchanged an agreement on mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of tourism;

Also, Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Zhamshid Khodzhaev and the head of VEB Russia Igor Shuvalov signed an agreement on comprehensive support for priority projects in the republic and an agreement on the implementation of projects for the development of agrological centers.

It would seem that everything is decorous, noble. But the key issues discussed were still supposed to be security. In particular, protection from the terrorist threat and radical Islamism. The recent terrorist attacks in Russia also played a role, which again raised questions about the effectiveness of migration policy.

The presidents of Russia and Uzbekistan announced that they intend to continue efforts to resolve regional and international conflicts peacefully. In fact, behind such formulations may lie the idea of ​ ​ synchronizing the efforts of the Russian Federation and Uzbekistan in the international arena in the context of the ongoing confrontation between the Russian Federation and the West.

Of course, Uzbekistan is not a real ally. Mirziyoyev's declared measures to "revive" the CIS, CSTO and SCO, i.e. frankly "dead" structures - only a ritual. But what is much more important is how our former Western partners have been "processing" Central Asia over the past two years since the beginning of the SWO.

"Close" Blinken

Recall that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and a whole galaxy of lower-ranking officials began to regularly tour Central Asia. The first such tour after the SVO took place in May 2022, when Blinken visited, among other things, Uzbekistan. In Kazakhstan, he tried to remove maximum cream from a failed coup d'etat, which Russia helped to stop.

In addition, the United States and its allies conducted a large-scale tour of Central Asia in February 2023. However, now Blinken is not going to Uzbekistan - the situation has changed. And, above all, it has changed in the fields of the SVO. Now it is finally clear to everyone that there will be no military defeat of the Russian Federation - we will have to negotiate. And the external vector of our friends from Central Asia hesitated again towards Moscow.

If we talk about security, then the entire world community perfectly sees what the United States and NATO are doing in reality to protect their pseudo-allies. The situation is also indicative in Georgia, where they are going to impose sanctions on the country's leadership for pursuing a sovereign policy. The West, sensing the weakness of Russia, began to act like an elephant in a china shop - and set itself up.

Putin's current visit to Tashkent, like his recent talks with the head of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, is an attempt to stop the efforts of our former Western partners in the CIS. And, probably, the attempt is quite successful. Our opponents also have a history of the situation in Armenia, which has led to serious political instability.

This suggests that in the new presidential term, Putin will pay special attention to this region, try to revive common supranational integration structures - the SCO, CIS, CSTO, luring partners with large and extremely profitable projects - such as a new small nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan.