MOSCOW (AP) 鈥 Russia and Uzbekistan signed an accord Monday for Moscow to build a small nuclear power plant in the Central Asian country, as Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in the Uzbek capital with Uzbekistan leader Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Mirziyoyev hailed the project as 鈥渧ital鈥 in remarks after the talks, noting that Uzbekistan has 鈥渋ts own large reserves of uranium.鈥 Putin, in turn, vowed to 鈥渄o everything in order to work effectively on Uzbekistan's (nuclear energy) market.鈥
If the agreement is implemented, the plant would become the first in Central Asia, further increasing Russia's influence in the region.
Russia鈥檚 state news agency RIA Novosti quoted the Russian state-owned energy corporation, Rosatom, as saying that the project envisions building six reactors with the total capacity of 330 megawatts. According to Russian media, the two countries were earlier discussing building a nuclear power plant of a larger capacity 鈥 of 2.4 gigawatts.
Putin also promised to increase gas deliveries to Uzbekistan.
The talks between Putin and Mirziyoyev took place in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, where the Russian leader traveled on Sunday in his third foreign trip since earlier this month.
, where he expressed appreciation for China鈥檚 proposals for talks to end the Ukraine conflict, and where Russia has deployed tactical nuclear weapons.
The trips reflect the Kremlin's ongoing effort to shore up support amid unabating tensions with the West over the conflict in Ukraine.
