Russia is working to hold a second summit between Russia and five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) in the foreseeable future, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a speech to teachers and students of MGIMO (U) of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
“Of course, there is a format that we created several years ago: Central Asia plus Russia. The first summit and several ministerial meetings took place. Now we are preparing a second summit in the foreseeable future.” – he said, TASS reports.
Lavrov noted that there is a struggle for influence between various global players in Central Asia.
“We cannot prohibit anyone – it is not in our rules or our principles – from developing relations with those partners who are ready for it, if the country in question sees it as an advantage. Yes, there is competition for Central Asia,” he continued. “There are formats: Central Asia plus the United States, Central Asia plus the European Union, plus Germany, plus France, plus Japan, plus India, plus Korea, Iran, plus Turkey – many formats.”
At the same time, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed, Russia and the five Central Asian countries fully understand that the obligations of the allies in the CSTO and the CIS “are not affected by the projects offered to them by other states.”
“When our Central Asian partners and allies develop relations with the West, I have no doubt that the West is pursuing transparent and plausible goals here, but it also wants to weaken the influence of the Russian Federation.” – Lavrov added.
