"The two countries are stepping up coordination within such organizations as the CIS, the CSTO [the Collective Security Treaty Organization] and EurAsEC [the Eurasian Economic Community]. I cannot fail to point to constructive interaction within the UN and the SCO, in which Uzbekistan’s and Russia’s positions mostly coincide," Karimov said at a meeting in the Kremlin also attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin

Putin said the two leaders had discussed the entire agenda of bilateral relations between the two countries at a narrow-format meeting. "What counts most is that we reaffirmed that relations between Russia and Uzbekistan are at the highest possible level and truly meet the quality of allied relations," he said.

Putin pointed to the fact that sitting at the negotiating table were officials from various ministries, other agencies, and major Russian companies, "which shows that our relations are diversified and are on the rise."