Pentagon Official Holds Talks On Border Security In Uzbekistan - Ambassador

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th October, 2021) US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict, Christopher Maier, has held "productive" border security talks in Uzbekistan, US Ambassador in Tashkent Daniel Rosenblum said.

"Very glad to participate in productive talks on bilateral cooperation and to discuss border security the past few days with the Government of Uzbekistan during the visit of an interagency delegation led by Assistant Secretary of Defense Chris Maier," Rosenblum tweeted.

On October 13, Politico reported that the United States will send defense officials to Uzbekistan who will explore the possibility of housing counterterrorist forces in the Central Asian country to monitor the threats emanating from Afghanistan.

On the following day, Uzbek Defense Ministry spokesman Bakhrom Zulfikarov told Sputnik that the ministry did not receive any official requests for a visit from the US.

At the end of September, Politico reported that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley told lawmakers in a classified briefing that the Biden administration is in talks about using Russian bases in Central Asia to conduct counterterrorist missions against targets in Afghanistan.

Following this announcement, the first deputy chairman of Uzbekistan's senate, Sodyq Safoev, told Sputnik that such negotiations are not taking place.