Overview
- Presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are in Washington for an evening summit and dinner with President Trump.
- Talks center on rare earths and other critical minerals, with regional leaders pressing for U.S. investment, technology transfer, infrastructure support, and domestic processing capacity.
- Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau and special envoy Sergio Gor visited Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to prepare agreements, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he will visit all five countries in 2026.
- The initiative follows Trump–Xi discussions after which China delayed new rare‑earth export restrictions by one year, as Beijing still dominates mining and especially processing.
- Officials expect economic agreements with signing ceremonies at the State Department, while discussions include U.S. bids for Kazakh tungsten and progress is tempered by logistics, energy constraints, and unverified mineral claims.