Tajik President's Moscow Talks Inconclusive

MOSCOW -- Tajik President Emomali Rahmon's talks with Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev near Moscow have produced no significant results, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.

Medvedev told journalists after the closed-door talks that Russia and Tajikistan would develop cooperation in defense and military exports to third countries to improve national and regional security.

Medvedev and Rahmon confirmed their interest in hydropower projects in Tajikistan while taking other Central Asian countries' interests into account.

Tajik analysts tell RFE/RL that Russia was not ready to discuss the main issues concerning Dushanbe: the rent for a Russian military base in Tajikistan and Russian participation in the Roghun Hydroelectric Plant project.

Experts in Tajikistan say Russia's involvement in construction of Roghun would likely irritate neighboring Uzbekistan, which considers the new plant a threat to its regional monopoly on water.