Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Interview to the Press Service of the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Moscow

First, I would like to congratulate Uzbekistan, the leadership of the country, and the Uzbek people allied and fraternal to Russians, on the 20th anniversary of the Republic's independence. Certainly, the achievements that occur in public, economic and social life in a country are primarily evaluated by its own citizens. Russia has been proudly watching the development of Uzbekistan. We are pleased when our friends achieve successes and we rejoice with you in the progress that has been gained over the 20 years of independence. We are, of course, bound by a very long history, and therefore the successes of the peoples are our common successes.

Question: Mr. Minister, how do you assess the cooperation between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Russian Federation in recent years?

Foreign Minister Lavrov: Our cooperation rests on long-standing traditions of living and working together. These traditions continue to fully evolve in the modern times too. Very much unites us, above all a shared vision of what should be the modern world – a world that must rely on the rule of law, fully respect the rights of every people, and reflect the cultural, civilizational diversity of the Earth and its population and in which there is no room for diktat, the imposition of precepts from the outside. Every people must determine their own destiny – on this the positions of Moscow and Tashkent are absolutely similar.

Economic, social and investment cooperation is on the rise. Russia is the largest partner of Uzbekistan: just this past June, a couple of months ago, during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Uzbekistan, our leaders noted the steady growth in trade turnover. Despite the post-crisis phenomena, it has increased over the last year by 35-40%, which is a very good indicator. I think that the generally stable top-level contacts, and the regular dialogue between the presidents of Russia and Uzbekistan, are the key to an extensive system of cooperation that has developed in recent years and covers almost all the ministries and departments of our two countries, as well as community organizations, encouraging dialogue on the level of civil societies and cultural and humanitarian cooperation.

The role of national traditions always forms a very important part of our relations, and in this sense we are pleased with the way the cooperation is evolving, bilaterally and multilaterally. Of course, we are working together with Uzbekistan also in the Commonwealth of Independent States, within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Community, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the United Nations and other multilateral institutions. So, our ties are full-fledged, cover both bilateral and international aspects, and they, in my opinion, have a very bright future.

Question: On September 1, the Republic of Uzbekistan will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the declaration of state independence. What would you like to wish its citizens?

Foreign Minister Lavrov: Usually you wish your friends on a holiday occasion what you desire for yourself. I, on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, would wish all of our Uzbek friends well-being, prosperity, success in their personal lives – in short all the very best.