TOKYO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with the leaders of the five Central Asian nations next week, a source familiar with the gathering told Reuters on Tuesday.
Representatives for the White House did not respond to a request for comment about the planned November 6 meeting, which the source said would include the heads of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, following meetings with Uzbek officials in the Central Asian nation, said Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev would meet with Trump in Washington next week.
His visit “should help pave the way for a great meeting” between the leaders, Landau wrote on X earlier on Tuesday.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev over the weekend said he would participate in the summit and thanked Trump in a letter for the invitation, according to a post from his office on Telegram.
Trump is touring Asia this week, including a meeting on Thursday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has sought to court Uzbekistan. Such Central Asian nations have traditionally fallen under Russia’s sphere of influence.
Last month, Trump said Uzbekistan Airways signed a roughly $8 billion deal with U.S.-based Boeing to buy up to 22 of its 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov cited trade, investment, education and innovation between the two countries, writing on X on Monday: “Our discussions covered in depth the timely and full implementation of all agreements reached between @President_Uz and @POTUS, as well as the promising agenda of upcoming engagements.”
Saida Mirziyoyeva, a presidential aide and Mirziyoyev’s daughter, on Monday said she met Landau and U.S. special envoy Sergio Gor, writing separately on X: “We discussed the dynamic reforms in Uzbekistan, new opportunities for trade and investment, and ways to strengthen cooperation on public security.”
“We very much enjoyed our candid and far-ranging discussion. Many opportunities to partner in the future,” Landau replied on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Tokyo, and Susan Heavey and Gram Slattery in Washington; Additional reporting by Felix Light in Tbilisi; Editing by Doina Chiacu, William Maclean and Andrea Ricci)
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