Uzbekistan reacted coolly to Putin’s proposal

Uzbekistan is negotiating the purchase of gas and electricity from neighboring countries, but “not through some alliance or alliance,” said the Minister of Energy of the Mirzamamymudes.

According to Mirzamamamamammudov, the authorities do not intend to jeopardize “national interests, economics and independence.”

“We will never agree to political conditions in exchange for gas,” the minister emphasized, adding that Uzbekistan will only buy fuel in Russia and another country at favorable prices and conditions of the contract, reports Reuters.

The head of the Uzbek Ministry of Energy noted that “even if the gas agreement is concluded with Russia, this does not mean the Union. Uzbekistan does not have a common border with Russia. Therefore, negotiations will be held on neighboring Kazakhstan. This will be a technical contract” .

O “Triple Gas Union”, in which Russian gas would go to the Chinese market through Central Asia, Putin said at the end of November, during an official visit to Moscow, President of Kazakhstan, Kasim-Zhomart Tokayev. According to experts, the creation of the “Gas Union” would help the Kremlin earn on the sale of gas bypassing sanctions imposed against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine. In Kazakhstan, the idea was rejected two days after the return of Tokayev from Russia. Kazakhstan will not allow using its territory to circumvent Western sanctions and will evaluate the draft gas union taking into account sanctions risks, Roman Vasilenko, deputy head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic, said on November 30.