Photo: AFP/Mandel Ngan
Szabolcs Veres
12/11/2025 17:33
The history of cooperation between the United States and the countries of Central Asia is not recent. Nevertheless, deliberations analogous to the New York meeting have only recently commenced. The C5+1 platform, as it is frequently referred to, constitutes a high-level diplomatic summit between the foreign ministers of the five Central Asian countries—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan—and the head of the US State Department. The primary purpose of the summits is to discuss regional issues such as the fight against terrorism, action against drug and human trafficking, combating regional environmental problems in Central Asia, and, last but not least, discussing the current and future state of trade and economic relations between the five countries of Central Asia and Washington. From a geopolitical standpoint, the C5+1 platform is regarded as a strategic move by the United States to enhance its economic influence in Russia's immediate vicinity.
In the context of the intensifying global confrontation between the United States and Russia and China, there has been a concomitant increase in US diplomatic activity in Central Asia since late 2021 and early 2022. In the period under consideration, and since February 2022, numerous delegations from the United States have visited the region. For instance, in February 2023, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, embarked on a diplomatic tour of Central Asia for the first time in several years. This development can be seen as a logical continuation of the 2023 summit in New York, reflecting Washington's sustained engagement with Central Asia.
However, it is crucial to acknowledge the heightened significance of Central Asia in US foreign policy in this context as a belated US diplomatic response to similar summits held by Central Asian leaders with other world powers: The following countries will be discussed in this paper: India (January 2022, online), the European Union (October 2022, Astana; June 2023, Cholpon-Ata), Russia (October 2022, Astana), China (May 2023, Xian), and the Persian Gulf countries (July 2023, Jeddah).
The inaugural C5+USA summit was convened in New York in 2023, with the presence of the US President, Joe Biden. Although this format between the United States and the countries of Central Asia had existed since 2015, until 2023 only the foreign ministers of Central Asia and the US held occasional meetings within the framework of the platform. Moreover, during the Democratic administration, the format exhibited a stronger correlation with the war in Ukraine. This strategic shift in the United States' foreign policy was employed as a tool to exert pressure on the leaders of Central Asia. However, this shift in the geopolitical landscape carries with it certain risks for the countries of Central Asia.
Concurrently, this shift in regional dynamics introduces potential hazards for Central Asian nations. In consideration of the dynamic and often tumultuous relationship between the United States and China, it is evident that the current geopolitical climate is characterized by significant instabilities. This is particularly evident in the context of trade relations, where the two nations have engaged in a series of confrontations, leading to a state of flux and uncertainty. Furthermore, the ongoing competition for global preeminence between these two major powers has contributed to a complex and ever-evolving dynamic, further exacerbating the existing challenges.
In the post-Soviet space, only two regions have experienced an increase in their geopolitical and economic weight since the onset of the war in Ukraine. The geographical areas in question are Central Asia and the Caucasus region. The strategic importance of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, also known as the Middle Corridor, is of particular concern to the United States. This route is of interest to the United States due to its potential to facilitate access to rare earth metals and critical materials. Additionally, the stable land transport and logistics infrastructure necessary for transporting these materials is of importance to Washington.
Furthermore, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan's previous overtures toward Donald Trump—their offers to export rare earth metals and uranium—seem to have garnered attention in the White House. It is noteworthy that prior to the C5+USA meeting in Washington, Sergio Gore, the US Special Representative for South and Central Asia, and Christopher Landau, who explicitly identified Astana and Tashkent as key US partners in the region, also made their positions known.
Washington's objectives in Central Asia are evident: to compel Russia and China to exit the region, to impede East-West and North-South trade routes, and to circumvent Western sanctions against Russia by leveraging Central Asian countries.
Washington's conceptualization of Central Asia is articulated in numerous US strategic documents, including the United States 2022 National Security Strategy and the United States Strategy for Central Asia 2019–2025. Consequently, the emergence of US interest in the region was to be expected.
The US Geological Survey has identified approximately 50 mineral resources as being of strategic importance to the country's national security and economic security. Of these, nearly 38 are located in Central Asia. Consequently, it is unsurprising that a consequence of the summit was the licensing of a tungsten deposit in Kazakhstan to the US-based company Cove Kaz Capital Group.
During President Donald Trump's recent tour of Asia, which sought to establish a coalition of loyal Asian states around the United States, significant emphasis was placed on the conclusion of agreements concerning the supply of raw materials from Australia, Malaysia, and Thailand to the United States. Therefore, the C5+USA summit can be regarded as a continuation of the aforementioned Asian tour.
However, beyond the realm of economic collaborations, Donald Trump also forged an additional alliance during the Washington meeting, wherein Kazakhstan became a signatory of the Abraham Accord. This accord was meticulously crafted by the White House administration during the incumbent US leader's inaugural presidential term, serving as a pivotal mechanism for fostering relations between Israel and the broader Muslim world.
Nevertheless, despite the Washington meeting, Central Asian countries are avoiding direct strategic rapprochement with Washington, as they only want to use the United States' occasional interest in the region as a geopolitical and geo-economic counterweight to Russia and China. For them, cultivating positive relations with Washington entails a delicate balancing act, with the objective of fortifying their negotiating position with Moscow and Beijing.
Concurrently, the most salient issue confronting Central Asian nations is the prevailing geopolitical disorder in the region, marked by the crisis of traditional political values, the looming prospect of new trade wars, and the emergence of novel alliances. The countries of Central Asia have come to the conclusion that they can no longer rely on stability from an international legal framework and institutions that are becoming increasingly unstable. Instead, they believe that stability can be achieved through an appropriate geopolitical balance. This balance would allow for the emergence of a new Central Asia, as Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has stated. The President of Uzbekistan has observed the emergence of a new Central Asia within the framework of international relations.
However, it is crucial to acknowledge that the leaders of Central Asia, in contrast to the political culture of most countries of the former Soviet Union, demonstrate a pronounced emphasis on safeguarding their national interests and pursuing their own agendas. This proclivity is accompanied by a notable degree of autonomy from external ideological influences.
The author is a researcher at the Eurasia Center
