Mirziyoyev arrives in Dushanbe

The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, arrived in Tajikistan on October 9 for a working visit, the presidential press service reported.

At Dushanbe international airport, the head of state was welcomed by Prime Minister of Tajikistan Qohir Rasulzoda and other senior officials.

According to the visit program, the Uzbek leader will take part in the second summit in the ’’Central Asia–Russia’’ format, as well as in the regular meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

The ’’Russia–Central Asia’’ summit will begin later today, October 9. This will be the second meeting in this format, the first having been held in Astana in October 2022. During the event, Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with the leaders of the five Central Asian countries, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. According to Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov, the agenda will cover issues of six-party cooperation in trade, economy, finance, investment, industry, logistics, energy, and other spheres. As a result of the summit, the leaders are expected to adopt a communiqué consisting of more than 20 points.

Tomorrow, October 10, Dushanbe will host the meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State. It will be attended by the leaders of Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. The session will begin in a restricted format, involving only the heads of state and CIS Secretary-General Sergey Lebedev. Later, an expanded meeting over lunch will take place, where Sergey Lebedev and Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova will deliver speeches.

At the summit, the heads of state will discuss the establishment of a new format, ’’CIS+’’ which envisions the participation of third countries. A similar mechanism already operates within the BRICS and SCO frameworks. During his speech, Vladimir Putin is expected to invite the CIS leaders to the traditional informal meeting in St. Petersburg, scheduled for the end of December, though the exact date has not yet been determined.