US President Donald Trump hosted all five Central Asian leaders on Thursday for the first time, a few months after they held separate summits with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping.

The West has upped its interest with the resource-rich region, where Moscow’s traditional influence has been questioned since the Kremlin’s Ukraine invasion and where China is also a major player.

– ‘Incredible importance’ of rare earths –

“We’re strengthening our economic partnerships, improving our security cooperation, and expanding our overall bonds,” Trump said before a dinner with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

“One of the key items on our agenda is critical minerals,” Trump said at the so-called “C5+1” meeting.

He hailed the countries’ “i

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