On May 24, the Interim Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov hosted the visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry.

Reportedly, the parties discussed the current state and the ways to advance the Uzbek-American ties in various fields.

Donald Lu commended the ongoing reforms in Uzbekistan under the leadership of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, as well as Uzbekistan’s constructive and open foreign policies and emphasized the readiness of the US government to actively contribute to the reform process in Uzbekistan.

The parties highly valued the enhanced bilateral political dialogue and reiterated the decision to transform the mechanism of annual consultations into a dialogue of strategic partnership and the successful holding of its first meeting in Tashkent in 2021 became significant events in the history of bilateral relations and demonstrated the readiness of the parties to comprehensively increase interaction.

In addition, the counterparts emphasized the importance of carefully preparing the next session of the strategic partnership dialogue in Washington and its industry meetings at the expert level.

They reiterated commitment of Uzbekistan and the United States to continue cooperation within the C5 + 1 format in order to achieve concrete results in the areas of infrastructure, energy, transport, environmental protection and combating climate change.

“There was also an exchange of views on regional and international issues. The efforts of Uzbekistan to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and promote projects designed to promote the establishment of long-term peace and the economic recovery of this country are highly appreciated,” the Foreign Ministry concluded.