US, Central Asian foreign ministers hold C5+1 summit in Kazakh capital

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) – The foreign ministers of Central Asian countries and the US held the fourth round of C5+1 summit in the Kazakh capital Astana on Tuesday.

“According to the agenda, the parties discussed matters of joint cooperation in the field of economic, energy, humanitarian and educational cooperation, as well as cooperation in the areas of border security and terrorism,” read a statement by the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry.

The foreign ministers pointed out the importance of continuing consultations and dialogue on the subjects of minimizing the impact of sanctions and preventing the application of possible secondary sanctions, taking into account the interests of all parties.

“At the end of the meeting, the heads of foreign ministries of Central Asia and the United States reaffirmed their commitment to further cooperation within the C5+1 format,” the statement further noted.

Separately, in a joint news conference with Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said concrete ways to continue to advance shared economic, energy, environmental, and security goals were discussed.

Blinken also announced that the US will provide an additional $25 million to the already pledged $25 million for the Economic Resilience Initiative for Central Asia, which was established in September 2022 to build up the regional economy, and “especially to make sure that people have the skills they need to succeed in this global economy.”

For his part, Tleuberdi said Kazakhstan appreciates the commitment of the US to strengthen cooperation with Central Asia.

“Our country continues a balanced multilateral foreign policy in accordance with its diplomatic priorities, and Central Asia and the United States remain our major partners,” he said.

Tleuberdi also said the C5+1 mechanism has established itself as “an effective regional diplomatic platform for promoting economic cooperation, security, as well as sustainable development in Central Asia,” adding that cooperation in a wide range of issues were discussed during the meeting, such as food security, combating terrorism, energy, environment, and other issues.

The C5+1 was formed under former US President Barack Obama during the 2015 UN General Assembly. It is the US' main dialogue platform with the Central Asian states, namely Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan.