Rubio heads to Uzbekistan for C5+1 talks as crises pile up elsewhere

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is travelling on Sunday to Uzbekistan, where he is scheduled to land in Samarkand and meet leaders of the C5+1 grouping, which brings together the United States and the Muslim-majority post-Soviet states of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

Reuters, reporting from Washington on Sunday, says the trip lands as the Iran war smoulders, Saudi Arabia fights the Houthis and a new rift opens in US-Ukraine relations over disrupted satellite communications used by Kyiv’s forces.

More than 200 business executives will accompany Rubio to Uzbekistan, the State Department said, with the Trump administration focused on expanding access to the region’s rare earth mineral resources. The trip was largely organised by Sergio Gor, the US ambassador to India, who was born in Uzbekistan and also serves as the US special envoy for South and Central Asian affairs.

After Uzbekistan, Rubio will visit the Indian cities of Mumbai and Jamnagar to meet business leaders, including Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani. The trip is due to wrap up on Thursday.

Kazakhstan’s agreement last November to join the Abraham Accords, and continuing US conversations with other Central Asian nations about joining, could feature in the Samarkand meetings, Reuters reported.

Sources:

• Reuters (Gram Slattery, Simon Lewis), “Rubio heads to Central Asia while other US officials hit foreign policy hot spots”, 18 Oct 2026: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/rubio-heads-central-asia-while-other-us-officials-hit-foreign-policy-hot-spots-2026-10-18/
• SRN News (Reuters syndication), “Rubio heads to Central Asia while other US officials hit foreign policy hot spots”, Sun 18 Oct 2026: https://srnnews.com/rubio-heads-to-central-asia-while-other-us-officials-hit-foreign-policy-hot-spots/