DUSHANBE, April 26, 2016, Asia-Plus -- Uzbek President Islam Karimov yesterday arrived in Moscow at the start of a two-day official visit.

Yesterday, Karimov and Russian President Putin reportedly had an “informal” meeting.

Today, Karimov is holding talks with Putin.  Tass news agency reports the talks will focus on ways to boost bilateral ties as well as regional and global issues, according to the Kremlin.

“It is expected that today’s tops level talks will focus on the current state and prospects for development of bilateral ties in the trade-and-economic, scientific-and-technical and humanitarian spheres,” the Kremlin press service said.

The presidents of Russia and Uzbekistan will exchange views on the most topical issues of the regional and international agenda and discuss cooperation within multilateral organizations, including the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the United Nations.

The Russian president''s official website says Karimov''s visit is taking place “at Vladimir Putin''s invitation.”

The two presidents had their last bilateral talks in July 2015 on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Russia’s Ufa.

Karimov has been in power since before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, when Uzbekistan gained independence from Moscow.