• Upcoming C5+1 summit to be held as US seeks to bolster its ties with Central Asia amid staunch competition from geopolitical rivals in resource-rich region
• Platform seeks to bring prosperity through ‘fair and reciprocal economic partnerships, increased energy security, promoting peace through strength,’ says US State Department

ISTANBUL

The US is set to host the upcoming meeting of the C5+1 diplomatic summit in Washington, DC, on Thursday as the country seeks to bolster its ties with Central Asia amid strong competition from Russia and China.

US President Donald Trump will be hosting his counterparts from the five Central Asian nations — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan — in the White House in talks that will mark 10 years since the format’s inaugural summit.

The C5+1 held its first meeting in the Uzbek city of Samarkand on Nov. 1, 2015, where the top diplomats of the US and the five Central Asian nations met and issued a joint declaration of partnership and cooperation.

Thursday's summit will notably mark the second time the event is held at the level of heads of state and the first time it is hosted at the White House.

C5+1 platform mission

Describing the platform, Washington has previously said the C5+1 enhanced its partnership with the countries of the region, which it said was founded on “respect for the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of all countries.”

According to the US State Department, the format has sought to enhance cooperation between the US and the five Central Asian countries since its inception to “advance regional solutions to global challenges.”

It further indicated that efforts within the platform’s participants seek to bring prosperity for both Washington and the region through “fair and reciprocal economic partnerships, increased energy security, and promoting peace through strength.”

“C5+1 working groups support three pillars of engagement: economy, energy, and security,” the statement noted, adding that the secretariat established for the format in 2022 aimed to further institutionalize the platform and increase dialogue with the region.

It reached a key moment just a year later, when an inaugural presidents’ summit took place in September 2023 in New York, on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, which involved the presidents of all five Central Asian countries and was hosted by then-US President Joe Biden.

A joint statement following the summit in 2023 noted that the US and the five Central Asian nations remained committed to enhancing their partnership through the platform.

“We will endeavor to maintain a high-level dialogue to collectively address emerging challenges, and to ensure our partnership continues to deliver practical results for our people,” it went on to say.

Regional engagement under Trump

Since Trump’s inauguration for a second term as US president in January, Washington has had notable engagements with Central Asia, most specifically with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

In September, Kazakhstan signed a $4.2 billion agreement with American ​​locomotive manufacturer Wabtec amid a working visit by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to the US, which Astana said would provide for the “production and maintenance” of 300 freight locomotives.

The Kazakh presidential press service Akorda said in a corresponding statement that the US manufacturer has been operating an assembly plant in the country since 2009, which it said produced over 600 locomotives for state-owned railway company Kazakhstan Temir Joly, as well as for export to other countries.

Commenting on the deal, Trump called it “the largest railroad equipment purchase in history” following a phone call with the Kazakh president.

That same month, Trump also congratulated Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on his US social media company Truth Social over Tashkent’s signing of a deal for the acquisition of 22 Boeing 787 Dreamliners with American aerospace company Boeing, valued at over $8 billion.

“This will create over 35,000 jobs in the United States. President Mirziyoyev is a man of his word, and we will continue to work together on many more items,” Trump also said, describing the agreement as a “GREAT deal.”

Regional competition

This summit of the C5+1 format will be taking place as other regional competitors have also sought to expand their ties in Central Asia, a region with vast reserves of critical and rare earth minerals.

Last month, Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe hosted the second Russia-Central Asia summit, where leaders agreed to strengthen economic integration, expand energy and infrastructure cooperation, and enhance coordination on regional security.

At the event, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow remained committed to strengthening its “strategic partnership and alliance” with the Central Asian countries while also expanding “mutually beneficial political, economic, and humanitarian ties.”

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan — five of 15 republics that made up the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991 — maintain close historical and economic ties to Russia.

Separately, China has also taken steps to expand its ties in the region over the past couple of years, sharing borders with three Central Asian nations, namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

Notably, the Chinese city of Xi’an hosted the inaugural China-Central Asia summit in 2023, with a second edition of the event held in the Kazakh capital in June this year. All sides agreed during the latest summit that the third edition of the event will be held in China in 2027.

At the meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a “security framework for peace, tranquility, and solidarity” between China and the five Central Asian nations to maintain friendship and cooperation.

The upcoming C5+1 summit is expected to touch on the issue of rare earth elements, used in devices such as smartphones and fighter jets, amid US efforts to circumvent China and Russia.

According to a Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) report published Tuesday, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan together account for just over half of the world’s uranium production, with the former being the world’s leading uranium supplier.