Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the activation of "all mechanisms of interaction" between Russia and the countries of Central Asia. He said this at the first Central Asia-Russia summit, which took place as part of the CIS Summit in Astana on Friday, where he was joined by the leaders of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
"Join Russian import substitution initiatives"
According to him, the “aggravating situation in the world” and the “difficult” situation in the region require intensification of interaction, “and most importantly, attempts from the outside to prevent the development of our integration with you in many areas, disrupt the close ties that have developed over the history and close interaction in political , economic and the humanitarian sphere.
“In our opinion, truly coordinated joint steps by our countries are now in great demand both to build up alliances and strategic partnerships and to increase the stability of our economies,” Vladimir Putin said.
“Russia is open to strengthening multilateral cooperation with our Central Asian friends, in particular, to participating in the creation of new value chains, ensuring the smooth functioning of joint ventures, and building alternative logistics schemes. We are also interested in your countries joining large-scale Russian import substitution initiatives, other programs and projects, and I am sure that this will benefit the development of all our economies and the acquisition of new competencies,” he said.
He called his country’s interaction “with the Central Asian Five” as satisfactory: in five years, Russia’s trade with the states of the region doubled to reach $37.1 billion, and in the first half of the year it increased by another 16%. “Russia is the leading investor in the economies of the Central Asian countries: our total direct investment is about $5 billion,” he said.
“The process of reconfiguring financial settlement mechanisms has been launched, excluding the unnecessary participation of Western companies and operators in them. Instead of SWIFT, we are already switching to using the well-established Russian financial messaging system for settlements under contracts, similar to the national systems of your countries, we are expanding the practice of opening direct correspondent accounts between credit institutions,” Vladimir Putin continued.
“We are ready to help in restoring the unified energy system of Central Asia”
The President of Russia noted the deepening of cooperation between the six countries in the field of energy security: “We are talking about partnership in creating generating capacities, building nuclear power plants, and introducing digital technologies. In particular, our country is ready to provide practical assistance in restoring the unified energy system of Central Asia, which will certainly increase the energy security of all countries in the region.”
He noted "considerable prospects" in such areas as expanding oil transportation routes, joint development of energy resources in the Caspian Sea, providing affordable natural gas motor fuel, building or expanding pipelines, increasing the volume of coal trade and its transportation to Asian markets.
“The reorientation of exports and imports carried out by Russia stimulates the development of transport corridors throughout Greater Eurasia. The key task is the arrangement of new trans-Eurasian corridors passing through the territories of your countries: “East-West”, “North-South”, the Europe-Western China route. The introduction of information technologies and the use of artificial intelligence, as well as the development of border checkpoints for the seamless transportation of goods and cargo, can significantly speed up cargo flows,” Vladimir Putin said.
He described the opportunities that are opening up for cooperation through the Eurasian Economic Union. “Russia considers various forms of cooperation in the Eurasian Economic Community with countries that have not joined our association to be very useful,” the President of the Russian Federation noted.
An important issue, Vladimir Putin noted, is improving cooperation in the field of epidemiological and sanitary safety. “The pandemic has clearly confirmed the need to develop a comprehensive system of measures at the regional level that can ensure the health and well-being of our citizens, as well as strengthen the technological independence of the states of the region. It would be necessary, for example, to think about the possibility of creating a research laboratory for the infrastructure of the CIS,” he said.
“Western intelligence agencies are fueling formations opposing the Taliban”
Speaking about the situation in Afghanistan, Vladimir Putin said: “There is indeed a smoldering hotbed of tension on our southern borders, fraught with refugee flows, terrorist threats and the spread of extremist ideology. At the same time, Western, primarily American, British intelligence services are fueling formations opposing the Taliban, aiming them at shelling the borders of some of our countries.”
“We are aware of the risks and threats associated with this, and therefore maintain the necessary level of contacts with the leadership of the Taliban movement. It is in our interests to prevent a relapse of the civil war in Afghanistan,” he said.
“In the context of the economic decline, the Taliban government is forced to condone some of the already traditional for Afghanistan types of money extraction, including drug trafficking. Everyone knows this. Under pressure from foreign intelligence services, the Taliban turn a blind eye to the emergence of terrorist strongholds in the north. The cross-border ties of the jihadists are a threat to all of us,” the Russian President noted, emphasizing the importance of working with the current authorities of Afghanistan.
