Senate Square SocietyRelationship with Moscow
3 / 5 · Balancing
Hedging between Moscow and other powers; neither aligned nor opposed.
Moscow Lens Project · Introduction
Three decades after the Soviet Union’s dissolution, Russia still shapes the political choices of the countries that emerged from it, whether through alignment, wariness, or open conflict. This project attempts to provide a brief overview of each post-Soviet state, besides Russia and Ukraine, which are better known generally, and whose relationship is defined by the Russian invasion and Russo-Ukrainian War. The Moscow Lens Project examines each state’s national politics and its relationship with the Kremlin, giving readers the background knowledge to understand the region as a whole. Information is current as of October 2026.
National Political Overview
Uzbekistan is a Central Asian nation home to around 39 million people, with most living in the Fergana Valley, a region shared with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. After independence from the Soviet Union, former Uzbek Communist Party chair Islam Karimov became president and quickly consolidated power around his office and party, the Liberal Democratic Party. The state was isolated, with repression of protest and opposition. After his death, his former prime minister, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, took power and slowly began to open the country to foreign economic investment, encouraged tourism, ended forced labor, and improved relations with other Central Asian nations. Despite this modernization, he still rules as an absolute dictator in the president role, and the country is still authoritarian and corrupt.
The last elections were held in July 2023, where Shavkat Mirziyoyev was reelected with almost 90% of the vote. This snap election was called after a new constitutional referendum passed that reset term limits and allowed Mirziyoyev to serve another 2 terms. This election was observed to have been engineered, with reports of ballot stuffing and repression of legitimate political competition. In August 2026, a new law passed expanded the power of the presidential administration and office. This gave the president's office newfound power over government branches and criminal immunity. This also made Saida Mirziyoyev, the president's daughter and head of the presidential administration, more powerful than the prime minister. This shows recent efforts to consolidate power around the president and his inner circle.
Stance on Russia
Russia and Uzbekistan maintain a close, strategic relationship with military, economic, and energy ties. Bilateral trade between the two countries has grown, with goals of expanding the joint investment portfolio through large projects in energy, chemicals, agriculture, logistics, and mechanical engineering. Uzbekistan also uses Russian natural gas. Militarily, they have signed military partnerships for joint exercises and regional security plans. Unlike other Russian allies, however, Uzbekistan is not a part of the CSTO or the Eurasian Economic Union. As for Ukraine, Tashkent is diplomatically neutral and is against its citizens fighting as volunteers. While Uzbekistan may be an authoritarian country historically and economically close to Russia, it maintains a more neutral approach, balancing its relations with China, Russia, and the West.
The Moscow Lens scale
- 1AdversarialOpenly opposed to the Kremlin; firmly in the Western camp.
- 2StrainedTense relations and pushing away, though Moscow retains leverage.
- 3BalancingHedging between Moscow and other powers; neither aligned nor opposed.
- 4AlignedA Russian ally, economically and militarily tied to Moscow.
- 5SubordinateMoves in lockstep with the Kremlin; an extension of Moscow.
Sources
- BBC News — www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16218112
- Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2025 — freedomhouse.org/country/uzbekistan/freedom-world/2025