Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin yesterday held talks in Dushanbe. The talks were held in a face-to-face format.
Emomali Rahmon greeted Vladimir Putin at Dushanbe International Airport and the two leaders immediately left for talks.
Before the talks, the presidents noted that they plan to consider the current agenda of Tajikistan-Russia relations of strategic partnership and alliance and their further development in various areas. According to them, they will also exchange views on regional issues, including the situation in Afghanistan.
According to the Tajik president’s official website, Emomali Rahmon, in particular, noted that Russia remains the major trading and economic partner of Tajikistan. Over the first five months of this year, the bilateral trade between Tajikistan and Russian has reportedly increased by 50 percent, and more than 80 regions of the Russian Federation have economic ties with Tajikistan.
Rahmon especially noted the close cooperation between the two countries in the field of security and military and technical collaboration between them.
Vladimir Putin, for his part, noted that the most favorable regime has been introduced between the countries.
On the Tajik labor migrants working in Russia, Putin noted that it is now clear that “these people make significant contribution to development of our economy and they are a human bridge, a bridge of friendship between Russia and Tajikistan.”
He noted that issues related to security, cooperation within the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and regional issues being of mutual interest, including the situation in Afghanistan, are on the meeting’s agenda.
Meanwhile, Rahmon's spokesman Abdufattoh Sharifzoda told Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service yesterday that no documents will be signed during Putin's visit.
Russian media reports, citing Putin aide Yury Ushakov, said yesterday that Putin and Rahmon will discuss issues related to military cooperation and Tajik labor migrants working in Russia.
Ushakov said they also would discuss measures to improve security along Tajikistan's common border with Afghanistan.
Putin today is leaving Dushanbe for the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat, where he will attend a summit of countries bordering the Caspian Sea, which also include Azerbaijan, Iran, and Kazakhstan.
Russian president’s visit to Dushanbe has taken place three days after he met with Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenko in Moscow, during which he told Lukashenko that Russia will supply Belarus with an Iskander-M mobile missile system with a range of up to 500 kilometers.
It is to be noted that Putin’s visit to Dushanbe is his first known trip abroad since ordering to launch the so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24.
Putin last week highlighted the need for the BRICS nations to work jointly to build a multipolar. In his address to the 14th BRICS summit via video link, Putin also pointed out that the five countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—can effectively work together to ensure international stability and security, sustainable growth and prosperity and the well-being of their people. The Russian president said that the West's selfish attempts to blame the entire world for its own mistakes in macroeconomics led to a crisis which can be surmounted only with honest and mutually beneficial cooperation.
