Today, Tashkent is hosting a meeting of the secretaries of the security councils of the SCO member states. The day before, on August 18, Secretary of the Security Council of Uzbekistan Viktor Makhmudov received his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev.
According to the Security Council of Uzbekistan, the parties exchanged views on a wide range of regional security issues, and also touched upon a number of aspects of the current state and prospects for the development of bilateral cooperation, including through law enforcement agencies, military and military-technical cooperation.
“Positively assessing the upward trend in the Uzbek-Russian multifaceted cooperation, the parties emphasized the stepping up of contacts at all levels,” the Security Council of Uzbekistan emphasized.
The parties also underscored the importance of the mechanism of meetings of the secretaries of the SCO Security Councils and its importance in coordinating joint efforts to ensure security in the organization's space, including in Afghanistan.
In addition, the parties reiterated "commitment to constructive cooperation, determination to deepen Uzbek-Russian cooperation in the field of security by strengthening the legal framework and developing bilateral mechanisms for interaction."
The press service of the Russian Embassy in Tashkent also reported on the talks. According to the diplomatic mission, the parties stressed that "despite the severity of the challenges today," comprehensive work continues to expand bilateral cooperation at the level of the governments of the two countries, law enforcement agencies and security agencies.
The parties reportedly discussed issues related to plans for cooperation between special services, military departments, law enforcement and justice agencies of Uzbekistan and Russia and exchange views on a number of regional problems. As noted in the embassy's message, the Russian side expressed concern about the desire of Western countries, and primarily the United States, to create hotbeds of tension in the CIS space.
“During the conversation, the situation in Ukraine was touched upon. Nikolai Patrushev, in a conversation with his colleague from Uzbekistan, informed about the establishment of a peaceful life in the territories of the DPR and LPR liberated from neo-Nazis, as well as the Kherson, Zaporozhye and Kharkov provinces,” the Russian embassy added.
“At the same time, he stressed that the peaceful life of the population does not suit Ukrainian nationalists, who continue to carry out massive shelling of peaceful cities, including using long-range artillery and multiple launch rocket systems received from the West, choosing civilian infrastructure as their main targets,” - the Russian diplomatic mission said.
At the end of the meeting, the counterparts discussed the topics of interaction between Uzbekistan and Russia in multilateral formats, including in the SCO, and the implementation of planned activities under the chairmanship of Uzbekistan in this organization.
