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Rubio lands in Samarkand ahead of C5+1 foreign ministers meeting with Central Asia
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Oct. 18 and will hold the C5+1 ministerial meeting with the foreign ministers of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan on Oct. 19, accompanied by a delegation of over 200 American business executives. The agenda covers trade, investment, critical-mineral supply chains, energy security and security cooperation.
Why it matters
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in the Uzbek city of Samarkand on October 18 and will host the C5+1 ministerial meeting on October 19 — the annual gathering of the United States with the foreign ministers of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. It is Washington's most ambitious diplomatic push into Central Asia in years: Rubio travels with a delegation of more than 200 American business executives, and the agenda centers on trade, investment, diversifying critical-mineral supply chains, energy security and counterterrorism cooperation. The region sits between China, Russia and Iran, and US officials have described it as deserving more attention than it received from Trump's predecessors.
Trip details
According to Uzbek media outlet zamin.uz, Rubio was welcomed at Samarkand International Airport by Saida Mirziyoyeva, Head of the Presidential Administration of Uzbekistan, Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov, US Special Representative for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor and US Ambassador to Uzbekistan Jonathan Henick. In addition to the C5+1 plenary, Rubio will hold bilateral meetings with senior officials from each of the five countries. Before departing Washington, Rubio told reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Saturday that the US-Uzbek relationship is significant and that the trip's timing was arranged so the five foreign ministers could convene together. Euronews reported the delegation includes representatives of companies such as Boeing, Citibank and Franklin Templeton, with US development finance and export credit institutions also joining the business discussions.
Context
The C5+1 format was established in 2015. In November 2025, President Trump hosted the five Central Asian presidents at a White House summit that featured more than $25 billion in announced commercial agreements; Kazakhstan agreed to join the Abraham Accords. US figures put 2025 goods-and-services trade at $7.1 billion with Kazakhstan and $1.7 billion with Uzbekistan. The European Union also announced a €12 billion Global Gateway investment package at an April 2025 summit in Samarkand, covering transport, critical raw materials, energy and digital connectivity. Reuters noted the trip fits Rubio's pattern of visiting regions outside the news cycle while leaving more fraught portfolios, such as Iran and Ukraine, to special envoys and the vice president.
Sources
Reuters (via SRN News, Oct. 18); Euronews English; zamin.uz (2026-10-18 20:43+05:00); The Times of Central Asia.
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