US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is heading to Samarkand, Uzbekistan, for talks with Central Asian ministers under the C5+1 format, RFE/RL and Al Jazeera reported. The meetings will run from Saturday through Tuesday, according to RFE/RL and Al Jazeera.

The format brings together the United States with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, RFE/RL reported. Rubio will also hold bilateral meetings with all five countries and lead a commercial delegation of more than 200 business leaders, the State Department said, according to RFE/RL.

The trip comes as Washington seeks a bigger role in a region long dominated by Russia and China, RFE/RL reported. "Central Asian countries are not really that comfortable replacing Russian dominance with Chinese dominance," Ken Moriyasu, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said, according to RFE/RL. He said the trip "would be the first step toward even more, such as a presidential visit."

Al Jazeera reported that the Trump administration's approach to the region is pragmatic and transactional. Under Trump, US policy in the region is "just business and nothing more," regional expert Galiya Ibragimova said, according to Al Jazeera. Alisher Ilkhamov, head of the think tank Central Asia Due Diligence, said US interest is "mostly geopolitical and military-strategic," Al Jazeera reported. Critical minerals are an important part of the picture, RFE/RL reported.

Rights advocates say human rights are missing from the agenda. Ivar Dale of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee said the State Department "should bring back the focus" on rights "if the C5+1 format is to be taken seriously going forward," according to Al Jazeera.

After Uzbekistan, Rubio will travel to India, RFE/RL reported.

What we know: Rubio will hold C5+1 and bilateral talks in Samarkand, with a large business delegation.
What we don't: Whether the talks will produce investment deals or other agreements.