TASHKENT, February 25 (RIA Novosti, Abu-Ali Niyazmatov) - The upper house of the Uzbek parliament ratified Saturday the Treaty on Allied Relations between Uzbekistan and Russia. The document was approved at the fifth plenary session of the Uzbek Senate.

"Ratification of the Treaty is very important for Uzbekistan's foreign policy, as well as for the region as a whole," Sodyk Safayev, chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, said.

He added that Uzbekistan saw Russia as an important player in the region.

"Further cooperation with one of the world's major states responds to the country's national interests," he said.