The summit was held in Almaty (Kazakhstan) on 28 April. The leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan took part in it.

In his speech, Uzbek President Islam Karimov said: "The construction of `great’ hydroelectric power stations and reservoirs lack an unequivocal assessment. The `great’ projects were passed by a decision of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party, the political bureau and the Cabinet of Ministers. None of the projects were thought over and nor did they undergo any expert assessment".

Uzbekistan supports the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the European Union which are represented by the EU special representative for Central Asia, Pierre Morel, Karimov said.

He said that he would like unwanted assessments by third states, which were trying to heighten the debate between the countries of Central Asia, to be excluded.

"Third countries, which want to take part in the discussion also pursue their own aims. We must think about reaching an agreement here on our own, and not raise the discussion to a political aspect," he said.

"I pay tribute to Kyrgyzstan’s and Tajikistan’s interests, but a compromise must be reached. There is no solution to this issue without a compromise," Karimov said.

The Uzbek leader fully supported the Turkmen president’s speech on reaching a compromise.

Karimov said that without a compromise, it would take many years to resolve the issues. He urged his counterparts to resolve the existing issues jointly without involving others, and not to become a bargaining chip for other countries on the "divide and rule" principle.

After Karimov’s speech, the presidents were due to sign a joint statement on the results of the summit.

"However, some issues have been raised by Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan," Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said, and recommended that these remarks be removed from the agenda and the joint statement be adopted without signatures.

However, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon expressed his disagreement. He said that the presidents had agreed to discuss water and energy issues.

"I had proposed this and you all had supported it, but this discussion is unfolding here. I also have something to say. Not only those hydroelectric power stations which are under construction, but also the reservoirs, which are being built by some countries and which are twice as large as the Aral Sea, should also be examined by experts," Rahmon told his counterparts.

Nazarbayev agreed to remove the water issues from the joint statement.

After some time, information has appeared that the leaders have adopted the text of joint statement taking into consideration the opinion of the countries - founders of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea.

Uzbekistan is against the construction of large hydroelectric power stations on the rivers in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan that flow to the Amudarya and Syrdarya.