Rubio seeks to expand Central Asia ties with pomp-filled Uzbekistan visit

SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan — Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with counterparts from five Central Asian nations in Uzbekistan on Monday, a trip that resulted in relatively minor public deliverables, but which U.S. officials have presented as an opportunity to expand American soft power.

Rubio, who arrived in the historic Silk Road city of Samarkand on Sunday night, met in the morning with the foreign ministers of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. In the evening, he dined with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and participated in a U.S.-Uzbekistan business council event.

The Trump administration has portrayed resource-rich Central Asia — wedged between Russia, Iran and China — as a major geopolitical battleground that deserves more attention than it has received under previous administrations. U.S. officials have placed a particular emphasis on trying to secure greater access to the area’s rare earth mineral supplies, and Rubio came to Samarkand with more than 200 U.S. business leaders in tow, the State Department said.

“I mean, look, it’s competition,” Rubio told journalists Monday morning after strolling through Registan Square, a complex of three imposing, azure-tiled madrassas that date to the Timurid Empire. “We have products, we have companies, they make things, and we just…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business