Trump to host summit with Central Asian leaders as resources race heats up

By Nariman Gizitdinov

 

President Donald Trump will host a summit with five central Asian countries as the US steps up competition for influence in the vast energy- and mineral-rich region where China and Russia have long held sway.

 

Trump is meeting with representatives of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan in an event intended to mark the 10th anniversary of the so-called C5+1 format, according to the White House. The event, which will be held on Thursday, according to Kazakhstan, will be the first time a US president hosted a summit of the grouping at the White House, though President Joe Biden held a similar gathering in New York in 2023.

 

The meeting follows recent efforts by other major powers to bolster ties with the region. Russian President Vladimir Putin joined a central Asian summit in Tajikistan last month, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping traveled to Kazakhstan in June for talks with the five countries on boosting investment under his landmark Belt and Road infrastructure program. 

 

European Union leaders inked a strategic partnership with the former Soviet states at the first EU-Central Asia summit in Uzbekistan in April. It includes an investment program worth as much as €12 billion ($13.8 billion) for transportation links, critical minerals and energy.

 

Central Asian leaders have sought to diversify their economic and security relationships, particularly since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine sparked massive western sanctions against Moscow and raised fears over potential risks to their countries.

 

US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau visited the region’s two largest economies — Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan — ahead of this week’s summit. He met with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana to discuss “the potential for mutually beneficial partnerships” in energy, critical minerals, transportation, and logistics, according to a statement from Tokayev’s press office. Landau held meetings with officials in Uzbekistan to discuss economic and security issues, according to the State Department. 

 

Washington’s courtship of the historical Silk Road region gained additional urgency after China last month restricted exports of its rare earths and other critical minerals in the trade war with the US, sparking a race to find alternative sourcing. Beijing suspended the curbs after a truce agreed at talks between Trump and Xi in South Korea on Oct. 30. 

 

Still, engagement with Washington is a balancing act for the C5. Increased US pressure to prevent sanctions evasion could prove problematic for the region, where Russia remains a key security partner, an economic heavyweight and a destination for millions of migrant workers earning money to send home. 

 

The Trump administration has been involved in talks for a US company, Cove Capital LLC, to get access in Kazakhstan to one of the world’s largest untapped deposits of tungsten. Separately, Cove Capital agreed with Uzbekistan’s mining industry ministry to conduct “geological exploration at prospective sites.” 

 

Earlier this year, Uzbekistan Airways agreed to buy Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets, the largest order in the airline’s history and a deal Trump touted on social media as worth more than $8 billion. Kazakhstan signed a $4.2 billion rail deal with the US-based Wabtec Corp. 

 

“Although countries in the region are keen to hedge against China’s influence with Western investment, the inexorable expansion of China in the region and Russia’s determination to keep Western interests out of its backyard will limit the US and Europe’s ability to safeguard access to critical minerals and other resources there,” said Kate Mallinson, a partner at PRISM Strategic Intelligence Ltd. in London.