Bishkek, Sept. 10, 2025 /Kabar/. The leaders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan Sadyr Zhaparov, Emomali Rahmon and Shavkat Mirziyoyev were announced as laureates of the second International Leo Tolstoy Peace Prize based on the voting results.
The ceremony took place in Moscow on the birthday of Tolstoy, an outstanding writer and philosopher, a TASS correspondent reports.
"By decision of the jury of the Leo Tolstoy International Peace Prize, the laureates of the prize in 2025 were announced to be President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Zhaparov, President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, and President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The decision was made unanimously," said the chairman of the jury, artistic director and general director of the Mariinsky Theater, general director of the Bolshoi Theater Valery Gergiev.
The organizing committee of the prize said that the leaders of the three countries were awarded this honorary award for their great personal contribution to strengthening peace and security in the Central Asian region. They recalled that on March 31, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan signed an agreement on the junction point of state borders, fully completing the legal registration of common borders, and "thereby made a significant contribution to ensuring universal and equal security based on the rule of international law, strengthening mutual understanding and cooperation between peoples."
The international jury, chaired by Gergiev, included political and public figures from Argentina, Belarus, India, China, Russia, France, South Africa and Japan.
"I would like to emphasize that the award is becoming increasingly influential, and it covers an increasingly larger territory. It also demonstrates that Russia can be a leader in promoting peace and stability," Pierre de Gaulle, grandson of the founder of the Fifth French Republic, General Charles de Gaulle, said at the ceremony. According to him, the award in 2025 will be given to heads of state who work for the benefit of peace and create a new model for solving problems through humanitarian means, rather than conflicts.
"I represent France and the European Union here, but I am very happy to be a friend of Russia. I would like to emphasize that, unfortunately, the EU and France are not the best examples of how peace can be achieved," he added.
The Leo Tolstoy International Peace Prize Foundation was established on June 22, 2022, by the Russian Historical Society, the Russian Peace Foundation and the Russian Military Historical Society.
The date of the International Peace Prize award ceremony will be announced soon.