Vladimir Putin: That my first trip as a sworn-in president of Russia is to Uzbekistan is no coincidence, because the confidence, cooperation and mutual understanding between the two countries has grown since our first meeting in Tashkent, and our cooperation is expanding in every direction. There are, of course, areas which call for additional efforts from both sides to make our ties more meaningful and fulfilling. But on the whole the trend in our relations is very positive, and we are quite pleased with it.
On all the matters we discussed yesterday and today, Uzbekistan and the Russian Federation think alike or almost alike. Actually, we covered the full spectrum of cooperation issues, from humanitarian ones, through economic problems, to military and military-technical questions that cannot but concern us. I wish to stress that the very important work made by Uzbekistan and backed by its allies, including Russia, to ensure security meet with understanding and support. The joint efforts to guarantee security and fight international terrorism in this part of the world will be stepped up and coordinated further, up to and including taking certain preventive measures to forestall any acts of aggression against Russia or Uzbekistan.
As you know, two joint military exercises have been held since last December. They were quite successful, adding further to the coordination of our efforts in the military sphere. We will also continue our work in the military-technical area. Those were the problems the president of Uzbekistan and I discussed.
In conclusion I would like to repeat to journalists what I said before our negotiations in an extended format: I am particularly thankful that our hosts, our Uzbek opposite numbers, are so good at creating an atmosphere that is conducive to these proceedings. On the one hand, it is possible to talk in an informal, practically homely setting and exchange views in a narrow format with the participation of experts, and on the other hand, it is possible to speak in an absolutely formal environment at the intergovernmental level in the so-called extended format with specialists from diverse fields.
All these formats as chosen and agreed by our foreign ministries help us to reach very serious agreements in an informal fashion, which is very important for further development of mutual relations between Russia and Uzbekistan.
I therefore wish to thank both the president of Uzbekistan and all our Uzbek colleagues who have taken part in our collective work, during our trip to Uzbekistan.
Thank you for your time.
Question: Fighting international terrorism and religious extremism is one of the major objectives in this region. My question is addressed, if possible, to both presidents: have you achieved a mutual understanding and closer positions on this issue?
Vladimir Putin: I would describe my country’s position as follows: I guess it is no secret to anybody here that there have been attempts – very active recently – to re-divide the former Soviet Union in a criminal, terrorist way. These attempts are spearheaded by extremism, including religious extremism, followed by armed terrorists as a second line of attack. No doubt, there emerged an arc of instability that runs along the southern borders of the former Soviet Union. Today, these are the republics that are closest to Russia, being home to large numbers of Russians, and the country’s humanitarian and economic efforts are concentrated there. They are our crucial partners. And one of them is, of course, Uzbekistan.
It is obvious to us that threats to Uzbekistan are also threats to the Russian Federation. To put it in a primitive and pragmatic way, if we fail to understand this and if we, jointly with our Uzbek friends, do nothing to oppose these aggressive ambitions here, in the south, we will have to fight them at home. This is perfectly clear and understandable to us, beyond any shadow of a doubt.
This is why the president of Uzbekistan and I have devoted most of our time to these matters. I will not be giving away a secret if I say that we also adopted a hands-on, or rather a map-in-hand, approach. We know where these threats lurk and what they are targeted at, we know how many men and how much equipment we must commit to counter them. And I must tell you: no one in Uzbekistan or Russia doubts the seriousness of these threats, how real and obvious they are to us. And this understanding, that it is our common objective and our common pain, is there, shared both by the Russian leadership and, as we could see yesterday and today, the Uzbek leadership as well.