On Thursday, US President Donald Trump will host all five Central Asian leaders in Washington for the first time. This comes a few months after they held separate summits with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping.
 |
| Source: Unsplash |
AFP reports: The West has increased its interest in the resource-rich region, where Moscow’s traditional influence has been questioned since the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine and where China is also a major player.
Since the war in Ukraine, the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have increased their engagement with other countries through the “C5+1” format.
Washington and the European Union have intensified their diplomacy with the landlocked countries that gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. A first US-Central Asia summit was held in 2023.
Russia, China, the West, and Turkey have all competed for influence in the region.
This year, European Union President Ursula von der Leyen, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping have all visited the region for summits with the five Central Asian leaders.
At the same time, the resolution of most regional conflicts has enabled the Central Asian countries to present a united front in diplomacy.
China, which borders Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, has positioned itself as a primary commercial partner by investing in large-scale infrastructure projects.
The former Soviet republics still view Moscow as a strategic partner, yet Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine has alarmed them.
Turkey has built on its cultural ties with Central Asia and taken advantage of Russia's distraction to strengthen military and trade ties.
The West established ties with the region in the early 2000s when Western troops used Central Asian bases during the Afghanistan campaign.
The United States and the European Union are drawn to the region's vast, yet largely untapped, natural resources as they attempt to diversify their rare earth supplies and reduce their dependence on China.
The United States and the European Union are drawn to the region's vast, yet largely untapped, natural resources as they attempt to diversify their rare earth supplies and reduce their dependence on China.
In addition to rare earths, Kazakhstan is the world’s largest uranium producer; Uzbekistan has substantial gold reserves; and Turkmenistan has abundant natural gas. Mountainous Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are opening up new mineral deposits as well.
Russia remains firmly established in the region’s energy sector, supplying hydrocarbons through Soviet-era infrastructure and constructing nuclear power plants.
However, Central Asia is also one of the world’s most polluted regions and hardest hit by climate change. All five countries have struggled with water shortages.
However, exploiting these vast reserves is complicated in impoverished states with harsh, remote terrain.
Central Asia is almost as large as the EU but has a population of only about 75 million. It is landlocked and covered by deserts and mountains. It is bordered by countries that have strained ties with the West: Russia to the north, China to the east, and Iran and Afghanistan to the south.
However, it has been on the Silk Road for centuries and is attempting to revive its historic role as a trading hub.
The five Central Asian states have formed several partnerships to reduce their dependence on Moscow.
Both Beijing and Brussels support developing a transportation route across the Caspian Sea, which would allow Central Asia to be reached from Europe through the Caucasus, bypassing Russia.
From 2021 to 2024, the transport of goods via this route increased by 660%, according to official statistics.
Trump, who has expressed admiration for authoritarian regimes, has prioritized economic cooperation with Central Asia over promoting democratic values in these countries.
Although the region has opened up to tourism and foreign investment, rights groups have expressed concern about the deterioration of civil liberties.
Human Rights Watch called on the United States to "make human rights a central part of the agenda" during the summit.
"The summit is taking place while all participating governments are increasing their efforts to stifle dissent, silence the media, and retaliate against critics at home and abroad," the organization said in a statement on Monday.
Central Asian countries rank at the bottom of Reporters Without Borders' press freedom index. Turkmenistan, one of the world's most secretive states, ranks 174th out of 180 countries.
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan welcomed Trump’s order to dismantle the U.S. media outlet Radio Free Europe, one of the last sources of alternative information in Central Asia.
По материалам: http://www.planet-today.com/2025/11/trump-to-host-first-summit-with-central.html