Uzbekistan and Central Asian Country to Buy Weapons and Rafale Fighter Jets from NATO Countries : NATO Russia Conflict

Recently, Uzbekistan has talked about increasing its arms with France, the UK, and Russia, in which there is a 100% chance of a 24 Dassault Rafale deal between France and Uzbekistan. Currently, due to the political and geopolitical turmoil going on between Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Tajikistan and the Israel–Hamas war in Central Asia, many countries have improved their security and defense. Uzbekistan also has most of its relations with Europe and China, such as SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation), CIS (Uzbekistan is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States), and OSCE (The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe).

Because of all this, there are minor conflicts between Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan and hence it is necessary for any country to strengthen its defense. Although such big conflicts do not happen with Uzbekistan, but Uzbekistan has probably now learned a lesson from Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Why are Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan buying Weapons, Fighter Jets, and missile defense systems from NATO instead of Russia?

Even Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan have a lot of relations with Russia, the US, and NATO but they believe that a war between the US, NATO, and Russia will never come to their country. To counter such use, to build a defense, and to avoid minor conflicts, they are purchasing more and more defense arms from NATO, Russia, France, and the US. Uzbekistan has also been a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), so moving away from CSTO is like taking on enemies from Russia and Central Asian countries. So now if Uzbekistan has started making such a big deal with NATO, the US, and France, then it will not be able to stop Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan.

Currently, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan are also part of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), but Russia and US attacks may reach central Asian countries like Israel and Ukraine. Uzbekistan has been close to the US and NATO for years after breaking away from the Soviet Union and now it is very difficult for Uzbekistan to maintain relations with NATO, hence it is purchasing its military arms, weapons, and fighter jets from NATO instead of Russia.