MOSCOW, January 19 (AVN) - The defence committee of the State Duma lower house of Russian parliament recommended the house on Friday to ratify the Russia-Uzbek agreement on strengthening co-operation in the military and technical spheres, committee chairman Andrei Nikolayev told the Military News Agency.
The agreement was signed in Tashkent on December 11, 1999. It is valid for the period of five years with the possibility of automatic prolongation for further five-year periods on mutual consent of the parties.
The serious military and political processes underway Central Asia force Russia to enhance its military influence on Uzbekistan in the interests of its own national security and in stability in that area of the CIS, Nikolayev said. These efforts pose no threat to the independent Uzbekistan. The agreement is the basis for settling problems with logistics support to the Armed Forces of the two nations, as well as for supplies of new types of armament, military equipment and spare parts with the purpose to maintain high degree of military and mobilisation readiness of the Russian and Uzbek armies.