The Uzbek Foreign Ministry summoned Russian Ambassador Oleg Malginov on December 22 and told him that statements by ultranationalist pro-Kremlin writer Zakhar Prilepin a day earlier are “provocative and may have a negative impact” on Uzbek-Russian relations, RFE/RL reported. Prilepin on December 21 spoke publicly about “the necessity to join Uzbekistan’s territory with Russia.” Russian
Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov signed a bill amending the national flag on December 22, two days after lawmakers approved it in a final reading. The lawmakers have said the wavy yellow rays of a sun on a red field of the old flag resembled a sunflower. The Kyrgyz word for sunflower is “kunkarama,” but it
Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia have agreed to open direct flights on the route Almaty-Riyadh. The agreement was reached on December 20 during the visit of the Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu to Saudi Arabia to participate in the 6th meeting of the Kazakh-Saudi Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic,
