By Arkady Dubnov
Uzbek President Islam Karimov ‘clearly spells out' his position
In December 1999, nearly eight years ago, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made his first visit to Uzbekistan. Five months later, after he was elected president, Putin made his first official foreign visit to Uzbekistan.
On September 1, 2008, he again arrived in Tashkent, this time as prime minister. On this visit, Uzbek President Islam Karimov himself came to meet him at the airport, ignoring the tacit rules of protocol.
The next day Mr Karimov explained why he had not followed protocol but chose to personally honour his guest. It was a "meeting of old friends", he said opening his meeting with Putin, adding that their relationship had been developing for years.
I said back in 2000 that I would trust this man with my life, and my opinion hasn't changed, Karimov added.
Last February, during his visit to Moscow and a month before the Russian presidential election, Karimov again praised Putin. They met at the Kremlin, and Putin was still President, but he had already made it clear that he would not be seeking re-election.
The President of Uzbekistan had a lot to say about that decision. He said he had great respect for Putin during the previous eight years, and that he was one of his most ardent supporters [and an initiator - Ed.] of the proposal that Putin run for a third term in office.
He said he felt satisfaction for having supported a proposal that "could have been a success and that no one would have regretted."
At home in Tashkent, Karimov paid more compliments to Putin. "We see your visit as a good opportunity to exchange opinions on important bilateral and international issues, primarily on the important problems we are witnessing," he said.
"We are willing to discuss them and clearly spell out our position on each issue," he added turning to Putin.
Shortly before Putin went to Tashkent, news agencies quoted a source in his team as saying that Russia's decision to recognise South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states would be highlighted during his talks with President Karimov. Since officials in Moscow proceed from the fact that Uzbekistan's President attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's meeting [in Dushanbe on August 28 - Ed.] and signed the declaration saying SCO members support Russia's role in upholding peace and stability in the region, it is clear exactly what Karimov meant by his statement. He has a well-defined position on this issue, and is willing to express it - but not publicly, just as in Dushanbe.
According to VN's information, Moscow was perfectly satisfied with Karimov's position as expressed at the restricted meeting. He said that Russia could have avoided reacting to Georgia's attack on Tskhinvali on August 8 by saying it failed to intercede soon enough, but it would have lost the respect of the international community. The other option was to do its best to protect its compatriots.
The Russian Prime Minister also seemed satisfied with Karimov's rhetoric in Tashkent, just as President Dmitry Medvedev was in Dushanbe. "We do appreciate this," Putin said in response to Karimov's assertion that his country deemed its relations with Moscow a political priority and that its policy remained unchanged. "Our efforts are paying off," he added.
Specific results of the Putin-Karimov summit in Tashkent will be analysed in time. No decision has been made on bilateral issues such as Russia's participation in privatising energy assets in Uzbekistan or setting up an LNG joint venture. Acquisitions of Uzbekistan's gas and pipeline construction are still under discussion. And on possible expansion of military-technical cooperation by exporting Russian cutting-edge weapon systems to Uzbekistan, there has only been a verbal agreement.
Therefore, even with the long friendship between the two leaders and vows to trust one another with their lives, the two countries still have a way to go to establish close cooperation.
