U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that he plans to visit Central Asian countries in 2026.
During a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. Congress, Rubio confirmed that the administration of President Donald Trump supports the repeal by the U.S. legislature of the Jackson—Vanik amendment, which imposes trade restrictions on the United States’ relations with Central Asian republics.
«We believe this would be beneficial,» he noted.
«By the way, we are planning to hold a C5+1 meeting in the region (the United States and the five Central Asian countries), which I will attend later this year,» the U.S. Secretary of State said.
C5+1 is a framework for collective engagement between the United States and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Washington has been using this mechanism since around 2015.
