Established by the parties in 2015, the C5+1 framework was initially designed to be only at the level of the Foreign Minister. In 2023, it was upgraded to a meeting between heads of state by US President Joe Biden.
In Mr. Trump's calculations, bilateral dialogue and cooperation forums with each partner group like this are more beneficial and practical for the US than participating in large multilateral forums such as APEC or G20. According to the contents of the joint statement released after the meeting between Mr. Trump and the leaders of the five Central Asian countries mentioned above, this event is a great success for Mr. Trump and the US leader has enough reason to be satisfied.
Mr. Trump took advantage of his relations with 5 Central Asian countries and the leaders here also took advantage of his opportunity. By promoting the C5+1 framework, Mr. Trump wants to pull these countries into the US influence trajectory, reduce their dependence on Russia and limit their leaning towards partners outside the region such as the EU, China, Iran or Türkiye.
Both these five Central Asian countries maintain traditional relations with Russia and promote relations with the US to use Mr. Trump as a counterweight to their relations with both Russia and other external partners, especially the EU and China.
Mr. Trump wants the C5 to consume US goods, but the bloc has pledged to spend billions of USD to increase imports from the US, including the purchase of 45 most modern passenger aircraft from Boeing.
At this year's high-level meeting of the C5+1 framework, Mr. Trump and the leaders of the 5 Central Asian countries reached a consensus on the way of cooperation to jointly exploit and refin rare earths and rare metals, building a new supply chain network for raw materials considered this decisive strategy for the future.
The so-called "Rare Earth Depository" or "Rare Metals Depository" is being implemented by President Trump not only very actively and dynamically but is also being put at the center of all foreign policies during his term as US President.
Mr. Trump needs to make substantial progress in bilateral relations between the US and Central Asian countries to maintain the momentum of success after the role of Armenia-Azer handy mediation, while serving the goal of competing for geopolitical influence and ensuring regional security.
The C5 bloc therefore becomes an ideal partner for Mr. Trump. That is not to mention that Mr. Trump is also very eager to convince these 5 Central Asian countries to join the so-called Abraham Treaty that he built during his previous US presidency, specifically to establish official diplomatic relations with Israel and officially recognize Israel's diplomacy.
For Mr. Trump, this year's high-level meeting of the C5+1 group was a great success. This is not completely wrong. The US is not only approaching the region but also increasing its influence in the region.
