Two days after the trip to Minsk, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, left for Tashkent on a state visit. Before that, British Foreign Minister, former Prime Minister Cameron went to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, but President Mirghiyev did not receive him, citing “being on a short vacation”. According to some sources, the “British lion” tried to have at least an informal meeting with him in Tashkent, but the President of Uzbekistan “remained adamant”.
After Cameron’s “fiasco” in Tashkent, the President of Uzbekistan appeared as an “honorary guest” at the Moscow session of the EEU Council. Vladimir Putin’s state visit to Tashkent, without a doubt, pursues the goal of “fundamental testing” of the position of the President of Uzbekistan. Although it is accepted to consider Kazakhstan as the “key” of Central Asia, Uzbekistan is the “epicenter” of that region in terms of human and raw resources and communication “pill”.
Earlier, information was spread in the media that a Great Britain-Central Asia summit is planned to be held before the end of the year. But it hardly adds up. Firstly, parliamentary elections are waiting in Great Britain, secondly, and more importantly, the “reception” given to Cameron by the President of Uzbekistan and his participation in the EEU Council session a few days later prove that Tashkent is putting itself out of London’s Central Asian “container”. In that case, convening a summit becomes meaningless.
Ahead of the Russian President’s visit to Tashkent, a regular meeting of the heads of security bodies and special services of the CIS countries was convened in Bishkek, during which the director of the FSB of the Russian Federation Bortnikov sharply criticized Great Britain, accusing it of carrying out a plan to “appropriate” Central Asia. Bortnikov warned the leaders of the Central Asian countries that after being approved, London will “carry out a power change”.
Unlike Kazakhstan’s President Tokayev, who at least formally renounced the traditions of clan rule, the President of Uzbekistan did not discredit the legacy of his predecessor. The deceased Karimov was, of course, an extremely “complex” personality, but fundamentally he never opposed Moscow, nor did he give preference to the “Turkish world” project. Mirziyev is his political heir. In this sense, as they say, “there is chemistry” between him and Vladimir Putin.
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are members of EEU in Central Asia. Will Uzbekistan join that structure? Basically, the problem is not formal membership, as in the case of Azerbaijan. And in general, it is not excluded that the EEA will be reformatted into a wider integration structure. Communication between Central Asian countries and Azerbaijan is considered here. Baku signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
Ilham Aliyev ruled out Azerbaijan’s “movement” towards the European Union. Instead, Baku and Moscow agreed on more than four dozen energy, trade-economic, communication and logistics projects. There is a problem of bringing them to a wider range, which can be solved by involving Iran and Central Asia. Apparently, we should wait for Vladimir Putin’s state visit to Baku, which will likely precede the COP 29 conference. Until then, the “contract of the century” must be reviewed. Will a new consortium be formed? The West and Russia are focused on the “world treasury” of Turkmen gas. Will Central Asia be “divided” between Russia and Great Britain? The Russian phrase “winged” has been known since tsarist times. Tashkent bread city.
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