ST. PETERSBURG, October 7 (RIA Novosti) - President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov told Russian leader Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg Friday that the two countries should develop their strategic partnership to form an alliance.
"[Our] strategic partnership has ripened and its growing into an alliance is quite realistic today, I think. We feel the need for [such a relationship] and see it as consistent with the goals we have set for ourselves," Karimov said, adding that Russia was becoming an increasingly powerful country and that its appeal with former Soviet republics was growing.
A Kremlin source told reporters that Moscow wants Uzbekistan to join the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), whose member countries currently include Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
"Uzbekistan seeks greater practical interaction [with Russia], not just on political and economic matters, but militarily [and] politically, as well. Uzbekistan's joining of the CSTO will [therefore] be a perfect solution," the source said.
On Friday, Karimov also thanked Putin for his backing during the May disturbances in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijan.
"People as well as nations will reveal their true selves in extreme circumstances. The problems that arose in Uzbekistan as a result of the Andijan events demonstrated very vividly who is who," he said.
The European Union imposed sanctions on Uzbekistan Monday for its refusal to allow an international inquiry into May's unrest in Andijan.
Western leaders accuse the Uzbek government of violently suppressing the protest, which they say was triggered by human rights abuses and poverty. They believe at least 750 people were killed in the crackdown.
Uzbek authorities blame the unrest on alleged Islamic militants and put the death toll at 187.
