After talks with his visiting Uzbek counterpart Islam Karimov in Moscow, Putin was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying that "Our full-format negotiations with the Uzbek president have just ended. They showed active and fruitful political dialogue between our countries, and confirmed the firmness and progressive development of Russian-Uzbek relations in all directions."

"The fact that Islam Karimov, after his re-election to the post of Uzbekistan president, made his first visit to Russia underscores the special character of our interaction," he said.

"We’re grateful for this decision; it confirms the mutual striving for further deepening of our strategic partnership," the Russian leader said.

"We regard the meeting as a good opportunity, in view of contemporary realities, thoroughly to analyze the level of cooperation and priorities of the development of our traditionally friendly relations for tomorrow and in long-term perspective," Karimov said.

"At the meeting in a narrow format we have confirmed mutual readiness to continue multifaceted cooperation aimed at practical implementation of the Treaty on Strategic Cooperation, to oppose the challenges and threats to security of our countries, and to strengthen stability in the Central Asian region," he said.