Russian and Uzbek defense ministers sign agreement on military cooperation
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu and his Uzbek counterpart Kabul Berdiyev have signed an agreement on the development of military-technical cooperation and the pursuit of bilateral cooperation between the defense ministries of the two countries in 2017, TASS reported.
According to Shoygu, “The signing of this document today will make it possible for us to tackle the issues of equipping your country’s [Uzbekistan] armed forces without delay and boosting their combat capability. We pay considerable attention to increasing cooperation between our defense ministries.”
The Russian Defense Minister noted that this involves taking measures to ensure military security in both countries by enhancing the armed forces’ combat potential through training and technical cooperation.
"The current threats and challenges in the Central Asian region require concerted action to neutralize them. It is important to prevent militants of the Islamic State and other terrorist groups from penetrating our countries," Shoygu added.
The Russian Defense Minister also noted that the program to modernize and reequip Uzbekistan’s armed forces with modern Russian weapons is currently being implemented, and is expected to be completed by 2020.