MOSCOW, November 19. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev believe it is essential to step up coordination on international platforms regarding Internet governance, in particular, granting countries equal rights in this sphere, as follows from a joint statement by the two leaders in the field of ensuring international information security.

"The president of Russia and the president of Uzbekistan recognize the need for stepping up coordination at the United Nations and on other international platforms over improving Internet governance, including the guarantees of countries’ equal rights to participation in the process of running the Internet and enhancing the role of the International Telecommunication Union," says the statement adopted after the two leaders’ talks in Moscow on Friday.

Putin and Mirziyoyev see it as a priority of international cooperation to develop under the UN auspices universal norms, rules and principles of responsible behavior by countries in the cybersphere, aimed at ensuring countries’ sovereignty in cyberspace and their equal security, as well as at preventing conflicts and using information technologies exclusively for peaceful purposes.

The Russian and Uzbek leaders called for preserving the process of negotiations on international security at the United Nations and for the prompt development of a universal convention on struggle against cybercrime.

They welcomed progress in deepening information security cooperation by the CIS and SCO countries. Also, they expressed the certainty about further cooperation by Russia and Uzbekistan along these tracks. The bilateral agreement in the field of international information security, signed during Mirziyoev’s visit to Moscow, is expected to serve this purpose.