Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s forthcoming visit to Uzbekistan
On April 22-23, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will pay an official visit to the Republic of Uzbekistan. He is scheduled to meet with President of Uzbekistan Shavkay Mirziyoyev and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov.
The parties will discuss bilateral agenda and thoroughly review the implementation of the agreements further strengthen comprehensive strategic partnership and alliance between Moscow and Tashkent concluded during President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to Uzbekistan on May 26-28, 2024. The discussion will specifically focus on foreign policy interaction in the current challenging geopolitical situation. The ministers will coordinate the countries’ respective approaches to current regional and international issues, including their interaction on regional platforms such as the CIS, the SCO, and the EAEU, given Uzbekistan’s observer status. They will also discuss the new area for cooperation, the Central Asia-Russia six-party format.
Moscow and Tashkent are linked by a strong bond of constructive, respectful and mutually beneficial relations based on the principles of friendship, sovereign equality and consideration for each other’s interests. The Russian-Uzbek dialogue is filled with purpose and meaning, which is manifested in the high intensity of contacts at the high and highest levels. In 2024 alone, the two presidents had six meetings in various formats and nine telephone conversations.
In September 2022, President Putin took part in the SCO summit in Samarkand. Following his talks with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, they signed a Declaration on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Uzbekistan, which provides a roadmap for bilateral cooperation today.
On October 5-7, 2023, President Mirziyoyev paid an official visit to the Russian Federation, where he travelled to Moscow and Kazan. On May 9, 2024, the Uzbekistani leader in Moscow took part in celebrations marking the 79th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. This year, he is again expected to attend the military parade in honour of the 80th anniversary of the Victory.
On May 26-28, 2024, President Putin paid a state visit to Uzbekistan. On October 7-8, 2024, President Mirziyoyev took part in the CIS Heads of State Council in Moscow, and on October 24, 2024, he attended the Outreach/BRICS+ meeting in Kazan, where Uzbekistan was granted the status of a BRICS partner country.
On September 9, 2024, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin paid an official visit to Uzbekistan to participate in the 5th meeting of the Joint Commission at the level of heads of government. This mechanism is a symbol of particularly privileged relations between the two states.
Russian-Uzbekistani inter-parliamentary ties are making active progress. On March13-14, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin visited Uzbekistan, and on April 5-7, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko participated in the 150th anniversary session of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly held in Tashkent.
Russia provided the necessary assistance to organising voting by the citizens of Uzbekistan residing in Russia during the October 27, 2024 elections to the Legislative Chamber, the lower house of the Oliy Majlis (parliament) of Uzbekistan. It also took part in monitoring the elections at the level of inter-parliamentary interaction of the IPA CIS and as part of the OSCE international observation mission.
The foreign ministries of Russia and Uzbekistan maintain active interaction. On May 22, 2023, Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov made a working visit to Moscow. Sergey Lavrov also met with Bakhtiyor Saidov on the sidelines of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 26, 2024, and within the framework of the CIS Foreign Ministers Council meeting in Moscow on October 7, 2024.
In accordance with the plan of cooperation between the two foreign ministries for 2024-2025, Russian-Uzbek political consultations were held in Tashkent on April 26, 2024, and in Moscow on April 18, 2025, at the level of deputy foreign ministers in charge of this sphere of activities (Mikhail Galuzin and Bobur Usmanov). The eighth round of high-level Russian-Uzbek consultations on regional security, which was held in Moscow on March 7, 2024, was attended by representatives of defence and law enforcement and foreign policy agencies.
There are six consulates general of Uzbekistan in Russia (St Petersburg, Kazan, Rostov-on-Don, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and Vladivostok). Preparations for opening the first Russian consulate general in Uzbekistan (Samarkand) are in the final stage.
The Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation, co-chaired by First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov and Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Jamshid Khodjaev, is actively contributing to strategic partnership between Russia and Uzbekistan. The 25th meeting of the commission was held in Moscow on December 9-10, 2024. On March 10, 2025, the two co-chairs held a working meeting in Moscow to discuss bilateral cooperation.
Our bilateral relations are based on a substantial legal framework of over 300 documents, including such fundamental ones as the Treaty on the Foundations of Interstate Relations, Friendship and Cooperation (May 30, 1992), the Strategic Partnership Treaty (June 16, 2004), the Treaty on Allied Relations (November 14, 2005), and the Declaration on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (September 15, 2022).
Despite geopolitical turbulence, illegal Western restrictions and threats to our friends, bilateral ties between Russia and Uzbekistan are developing progressively. In 2024, our bilateral trade exceeded $10 billion.
To date, there are over 3,000 companies with Russian capital in Uzbekistan, or 22 percent of companies with foreign capital operating in the country. Russian investments in the Uzbek economy stand at over $13 billion. Russia is co-financing 115 investment projects worth 3.2 trillion roubles and 37 product supply projects. Russian retailers and e-commerce companies – Magnit, Ozon and Wildberries – are rapidly expanding their presence in Uzbekistan.
Interregional cooperation is advancing to a new level. The Interregional Forum, which was established six years ago, has been transformed into the Council of Regions of Russia and Uzbekistan led by our presidents. Its first meeting, held on May 27, 2024, was attended by over 250 representatives of the authorities, businesses and public organisations from 28 Russian regions and all the 14 regions of Uzbekistan. New joint projects worth 220 billion roubles have been launched. Overall, about 80 Russian regions maintain trade and economic relations with Uzbekistan.
Energy cooperation is extremely important. Russia’s flagship energy project in Uzbekistan provides for building its first nuclear power plant in accordance with a contract signed in May 2024.
We have coordinated plans to building up gas cooperation. The agreements on Russian gas deliveries, signed on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum in June 2023 and the St Petersburg International Gas Forum in October 2024, are aimed at guaranteeing energy security throughout Central Asia.
Transport connectivity between our countries is being enhanced, and the volume of railway cargo and passenger transportation is growing. Regular rail passenger transportation between Moscow and Tashkent resumed on September 24, 2024, and the number and destination of mutual flights are increasing.
Our cooperation in the field of science is developing on a planned basis, with fruitful interaction between the Russian Academy of Science, the National Research Centre Kurchatov Institute and the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan.
Humanitarian and educational ties are also among the priorities. In 2024/25 academic year, applicants from Uzbekistan were offered 800 state-funded places at Russian universities. For the next year, the quota has been extended to 810. Uzbekistan is in the lead among foreign states as to the number of its students in Russia – upwards of 56,000! The republic also leads in terms of Russian higher education representation. Currently, there are 14 branches of Russian universities operating in the country: Lomonosov Moscow State University, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas, the National University of Science and Technology MISiS, National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, MGIMO University of the Russian Foreign Ministry, National Research University MPEI, Mendeleyev Russian University of Chemical Technology, Astrakhan State Technological University, Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Gerasimov All-Russia Institute of Cinematography, St Petersburg State University, and Kazan (Volga) Federal University. A branch of Bauman Moscow State Technical University is about to open soon.
Russia-assisted work is in progress to establish advanced engineering schools in Uzbekistan.
Russia appreciates Uzbekistan’s efforts to maintain interethnic harmony, preserve the positions of the Russian language and the distinct identity of about one million Russian compatriots. Russian is of importance as a means of interethnic communication for 130 ethnic groups based in Uzbekistan. Its relevance is highlighted by joint projects such as “Class!”, “The Tiny-Tot,” and “Power of the Mind,” designed to enhance the quality of its teaching at secondary, primary and nursery schools.
In the area of culture, Russia and Uzbekistan host, every year, large-scale concert tours, library and educational events, as well as those in the area of cinematography and museum affairs. The Days of Culture of Russia and Uzbekistan demonstrating the rich spiritual legacy of both nations have become a tradition.
In November 2024, the Days of Culture of Uzbekistan, including the gala concert entitled “An Evening with Uzbekistan Stars” on the stage of the State Kremlin Palace, was a great success. In June of this year, Uzbekistan will host the Days of Russian Culture festival.
We welcome Uzbekistan’s engagement with the EAEU as an observer state. In the two years since obtaining this status, Tashkent has established a meaningful dialogue with the Eurasian Economic Commission and implemented a range of initiatives to expand cooperation. In 2024, Uzbekistan’s trade with EAEU members increased by 7.3 percent to $17.5 billion.
Full membership of the EAEU will give Tashkent significant advantages, automatically removing multiple restrictions and significantly simplifying the movement of goods, services, capital and workforce. An important step on this path was Uzbekistan’s accession to the Eurasian Development Bank in April this year.
Our interaction in the CIS remains close. Uzbekistan has joined all the final decisions of the meetings of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers and Heads of State Council (Moscow, 7-8 October 2024).
The Innoprom, Central Asia international industrial exhibition, to be held in Tashkent from April 28 to 30, will feature a meeting of the CIS Economic Council and the CIS Innovative Development Forum, initiated by President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Uzbekistan’s humanitarian ties within the CIS are on the rise. In 2024, Tashkent was the first to implement the CIS Youth Capital interstate project, and Samarkand was awarded the status of Cultural Capital of the Commonwealth.
The CIS has declared this year, 2025, the Year of the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, of peace and unity in fighting Nazism. The national day of remembrance is observed in Uzbekistan on May 9.
Russia and Uzbekistan engage in substantial interaction within the SCO. Moscow and Tashkent welcome the organisation’s contribution to security and sustainable development in Eurasia as one of the pillars of the modern international system.
In the CIS and SCO, Russia and Uzbekistan are successfully cooperating in combating terrorism, extremism, cross-border crime and drug trafficking, as well as in ensuring the security of the CIS external borders. Uzbekistan is an active participant in respective industry-based programmes.
The two states cooperate constructively at the United Nations due to the proximity of their approaches to most issues on the global and regional agendas.
Moscow and Tashkent have a shared view on achieving an Afghan settlement. They maintain close interaction at the level of special presidential representatives on Afghanistan. Their cooperation on the Moscow Format of Consultations on Afghanistan and regional dialogue at the level of secretaries of security councils are also making progress.
During the talks, the discussion will focus on labour migration issues. About 1.1 million Uzbekistani citizens are employed in various sectors of the Russian economy. The intergovernmental agreement of June 4, 2022 on the procedure for Russian citizens’ stay in the Republic of Uzbekistan and Uzbekistani citizens’ stay in the Russian Federation has been instrumental in creating favourable conditions for them. Recruitment procedures have been streamlined and formalised, including by establishing a pre-migration training centre in Uzbekistan.