The two Presidents discussed current bilateral cooperation development issues. Economic and energy sector issues are high on the two countries’ bilateral agenda. Bilateral trade reached a figure of $1.8 billion in 2005, and trade is up 26.1 percent, coming to $402 million, in the first quarter of 2006 compared to the same period last year.
Mr Putin and Mr Karimov also concentrated on Uzbekistan’s full participation in the Eurasian Economic Community. Mr Karimov proposed intensifying regional integration, including through attracting Russian capital to the privatisation of strategic facilities in Uzbekistan.
The two Presidents discussed the prospects for future political contacts and military-technical cooperation. Among the main focuses of the bilateral talks were the issues of ensuring stability and security in Central Asia and increasing cooperation between the two countries in neutralising the threat of international terrorism and preventing drugs trafficking.
A day earlier President Vladimir Putin signed the Federal Law on Ratification of the Treaty on an Alliance between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Uzbekistan.