Rubio arrives in Central Asia while other US officials hit foreign policy hot spots

AI Summary

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, for meetings with officials from the C5+1 group of Central Asian countries. His visit comes amid ongoing regional conflicts and tensions in US foreign relations, including over Iran, the Houthis, and Ukraine.

By Gram Slattery and Simon Lewis WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - While the Iran war smolders, Saudi Arabia fights theHouthis and a new rift opens in US-Ukraine relations, Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled on Sunday to Uzbekistan, a nation far removed from the biggest US foreign policy challenges. The top US diplomat landed in Samarkand on Sunday night to meet with top officials from the C5+1, a grouping that brings together the United States and the Muslim-majority post-Soviet states of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.