The following statement was released by the Governments of the United States of America and the Republic of Kazakhstan on the occasion of the annual United States-Kazakhstan Enhanced Strategic Partnership Dialogue.
On May 31, 2024, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu welcomed First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Akan Rakhmetullin and a Kazakh delegation to Washington for the sixth annual United States-Kazakhstan Enhanced Strategic Partnership Dialogue (ESPD). This strategic dialogue was created to identify new opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation and serves as a platform for advancing shared political, economic, security, and human rights priorities. The ESPD builds upon over 30 years of bilateral relations and underscores the United States’ unwavering support for Kazakhstan’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.
Participants expressed their intentions to continue to enhance regional cooperation on border security, counterterrorism, non-proliferation, and transnational threats in the year ahead, including through the C5+1 Security Working Group. The United States and Kazakhstan discussed the repatriations of Kazakh foreign fighters and their family members from Syria to Kazakhstan and the reintegration of those family members into society. Participants also discussed deepening multilateral cooperation to support the principles of the UN charter, underscoring both countries’ dedication to fostering a more secure and prosperous region through sustained dialogue.
The two sides reflected on the outcomes of the third annual United States-Kazakhstan High-Level Dialogue on Human Rights and Democratic Reforms held on May 20 in Astana. They underscored their ongoing commitment to advancing respect for human rights, including freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, religion or belief; labor; and disability rights. Both delegations also discussed support for legislative efforts to increase gender equality and strengthen protections for women and children against domestic violence. Participants reiterated their intent to work together to develop torture prevention programs and explore prospects for closer collaboration in data-sharing to prevent trafficking in persons.
Participants also discussed deepening bilateral economic cooperation by promoting resilient infrastructure along the Trans-Caspian Transportation Corridor to support future exports from Central Asia. Delegations explored emerging areas for economic partnership such as bilateral technical assistance in developing Kazakhstan’s critical minerals sector. They expressed support for continuing efforts toward permanent normal trade relations which will further strengthen bilateral trade ties. Both delegations look forward to building upon new cooperation within forums like C5+1 Critical Minerals Dialogue and Minerals Security Partnership Forum aimed at increasing regional roles in global critical minerals supply chains.
Views were exchanged on revitalizing United States-Kazakhstan Strategic Energy Dialogue with an aim towards securing a clean energy future for Central Asia. Mutual readiness was expressed regarding implementing methane mitigation solutions underlined in their Joint Statement on Accelerating Methane Mitigation as part of achieving Global Methane Pledge goals.
Assistant Secretary Lu and First Deputy Minister Rakhmetullin acknowledged that ESPD remains valuable in advancing bilateral cooperation across all aspects of US-Kazakhstan relations. Both sides expressed strong interest in deepening this strategic partnership further through future dialogues with plans set already towards convening next year's ESPD meeting scheduled at Astana come 2025.
