Ex-Soviet Uzbekistan has close ties with Moscow and has also held multiple rounds of talks on boosting economic cooperation with Taliban officials from neighbouring Afghanistan in recent years.

Uzbekistan's defence ministry said Tuesday that NATO personnel had conducted a "training session on a number of subjects for cadets" during a visit to a specialist army training centre in the country.

The "collaborative training" will run until April 20, it added in a statement.

NATO regularly holds training events in countries that are not members of the alliance, including some -- like Uzbekistan -- that are close to Russia.

The Central Asian nation is being increasingly courted by the likes of China, Turkey, Russia and the West as authorities push a high-profile drive to open the country up after decades of isolation.

Since invading Ukraine, Russia has seen its influence challenged in regions that it historically considers its sphere of influence, like Central Asia and the Caucasus.

Uzbekistan, home to 35 million people, is rich in natural resources and occupies a strategic position in Central Asia, bordering the other four former Soviet republics as well as Afghanistan.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev maintains dialogue with the Taliban authorities and officials from the group have been regularly invited to Tashkent since returning to power in 2021.

Moscow has criticised increased Western involvement in the country.

Last year it condemned a visit by a senior US military official to Uzbekistan and warned against Western troops "returning" to Afghanistan or being placed in Central Asia.