On 13 July, 1994 Uzbekistan's foreign minister, Saidmukhtar Saidkasimov, signed his country up for NATO's Partnership for Peace (PFP) program in Brussels, AFP and ITAR-TASS reported. Uzbekistan is the 22nd state to join the PFP initiative; Tajikistan is now the only Central Asian state which has not signed on to the program. Saidkasimov stated that his government sees PFP membership as an additional way of enhancing stability in the CIS, and especially in Central Asia; he noted that Uzbekistan has also signed the CIS collective security treaty, which amounts to a mutual defense agreement.

A NATO fact-finding mission is expected in Tashkent on 21 July, and it is will seek specific areas in which Uzbekistan and NATO can cooperate. The Uzbek government is reportedly eager to have some of its officer corps trained in Western Europe, and is also interested in trying to resolve the conflict along the Tajik-Afghan border.