Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Mikhail Galuzin, speaking at the opening of the IV Valdai Club conference during the session «Russia and Central Asia in the general system of the region: bilateral and multilateral aspects,» made several statements. The Telegram channel of the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry reports.
«We see that Washington and Brussels are playing a dishonest game in order to solve a super task — to gain access to the region’s resource base and control over the transportation arteries running through it, as well as the system of water use. We assume that once these goals are achieved, the governments of Central Asian states will cease to be fellow travelers for the West, and accordingly, the threat of color revolutions, which, as we know, are widely practiced by the West, will manifest itself in full force,» the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia said.
According to Mikhail Galuzin, «the strategic calculation of our enemies is obvious: to sow discord between Russia and the Central Asian republics, to bring discord into their relations.»
He added that «overseas and in Brussels, people naively believe that Central Asian countries will not resist such Western expansion.»
«We, on the other hand, are convinced that Central Asian capitals realize all the risks and potential damage from excessive rapprochement with the West, following its promises, and joining anti-Russian restrictions.,» he said.
«Russia is a reliable and key trade and economic partner for the region, which is confirmed by the consistent growth of trade turnover. Its total volume last year exceeded $44 billion and 33 percent of all foreign trade of the Central Asian states today falls on Russia. This is largely due to the transition to settlements in national currencies. Now the volume of such settlements with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan has reached 80 percent, with Uzbekistan — 55 percent, with Turkmenistan — 24 percent,» the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation said.