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According to Kommersant’s information, another important task for Lavrov during his European tour (after Rome, Lavrov will visit Cyprus and Poland) will be to advance Russia’s interpretation of the recent events in Uzbekistan, i.e., that outside forces, including Afghan Taliban, incited the armed uprising, whose suppression was the exercise of the right of a sovereign state to self-defense. Apparently, Russian diplomats have recently been trying not only to justify Islam Karimov’s use of armed force, but also to prepare the world community for the fact that, from now on, similar tactics would be used to put down street anarchy throughout the CIS. Just recently, Lavrov spoke of this theory in a telephone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. This elicited an angry reaction from her, since this theory would call into question the effectiveness of the United States’ actions in Afghanistan. Rice replied bluntly that she saw no evidence of Afghan involvement in the events in Andijan, and that in searching for the causes, one should look more closely at the situation in Uzbekistan itself.