In UN General Assembly Uzbekistan didn’t participate in the voting process on adopting the Resolution condemning Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. It was a subtle issue for Uzbekistan because being friend and trade partner to both Russia and Ukraine made the choice very difficult and morally challenging. The information sphere of Uzbekistan like other Central Asian countries has, so far, permanently dominated by the Russian media which is nowadays overwhelmed with Kremlin-led propaganda, when it comes to the war in Ukraine.
The public opinion in Uzbekistan is not homogenous about the situation in Ukraine. On the one hand, the leadership takes this into account, but on the other – itself is too cautious in expressing a somewhat critical views towards Russia, not least, because of influence of pro-Russian elites and business circles. Some days ago, the telephone conversation took place between President of Uzbekistan Sh. Mirziyoev and Russian President V. Putin which the Russian media interpreted in a way that Mirziyoev allegedly understood Russia’s actions in Ukraine. However, the content of that conversation was slightly different, and Uzbek President’s Press Secretary had to correct the interpretation of it, namely: two presidents discussed bilateral cooperation and issues related to international and regional agenda including the current situation in Ukraine.
Also, the Russian TV correspondent during the news broadcasting resented that some independent Uzbek bloggers dared to express their “too pacifist position” regarding the war in Ukraine and supported Ukrainian side. All these Russian TV channels are widely broadcasted in the territory of Uzbekistan creating thereby a biased, one-sided and unbalanced information environment in this country. That’s why, Uzbekistan’s leadership has been fluctuating in its foreign policy between cautiousness and reactiveness – on the one hand, and principled position and proactiveness – on the other. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Embassy in Tashkent requested Uzbek government to close the Russian propaganda channels. This appeal just added perplexity to Uzbekistan’s position.
It has to be mentioned in this respect that, when it comes to different tensions, conflicts and interstate problems in the region and in the international affairs, Uzbekistan has always referred to the UN norms, resolutions and international law. The results of the voting in the UN GA were quite telling and illustrative of how international law works and acknowledged by the international community. Moreover, UN always supported Uzbekistan’s initiatives aimed at resolving various problems Central Asia has been facing since independence. Therefore, Uzbekistan as an active UN member is expected to perform more principled position on Ukrainian case, in the spirit of international law.
Although Uzbekistan didn’t participate in the voting process in UN GA, the real position of Tashkent was voiced during the parliamentary hearings where Uzbekistan’s Foreign Minister A. Kamilov made it clear that Uzbekistan doesn’t recognize Donetsk and Lugansk Republics and recognizes territorial integrity of Ukraine. Some people were inclined to see nothing new in such a statement. Indeed, Uzbekistan didn’t recognize independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Georgia in 2008, didn’t recognize annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 and finally, now, doesn’t recognize Donetsk and Lugansk Republics. So, Tashkent’s foreign policy, from this viewpoint, is consistent.
However, in this consistency there is a small nuance. If Uzbekistan didn’t participate in the UN GA voting it could create an impression that it keeps neutral position in a simplistic sense of this concept (neutrality): neither pro-Russian nor pro-Ukrainian, because the Resolution is unequivocally anti-Russian (anti-war). Therefore, the recent expression of the official position of Tashkent slightly differs from the seemingly neutral one and equal to the recognition of the pre-war status-quo.
Uzbekistan, like any other state, has national interests. National interests likely dictated to keep no-vote stance in the UN GA, but national interests also dictated to demonstrate pro-active and consistent image of Uzbekistan – independent, peaceful and engaged with the international system.
