Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in Uzbekistan Friday to bolster Moscow's alliance with the Central Asian State, held talks with his Uzbek counterpart Islam Karimov.
Medvedev and Karimov hailed the state of bilateral ties during the visit, which is focused on developing economic and in particular energy relations as well as security cooperation.
The Russian president told Karimov that the two sides had now to discuss global issues "like never before", Russian news agencies reported.
He said it was particularly important to discuss "questions of security which have traditionally been very complicated in the Central Asian region... and strengthen our cooperation in this area."
Karimov, whose administration has been bitterly criticized by Western governments for human rights abuses, hailed Medvedev's visit.
"We see your state visit to Uzbekistan as a sign of great attention and as a mutual attempt to strengthen relations between our countries and solve serious problems of security and peace," said Karimov.
"Russia is a country which has always been present in this region, which has determined the region's politics and power balance," he added, according to the RIA Novosti news agency.