U.S. Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken tweeted that he met with Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov.
Met with Turkmenistan Foreign Minister Meredov following today’s Annual Bilateral Consultations to expand on U.S.-Turkmenistan ties. We discussed human rights, educational and economic partnerships, and other areas affecting our two countries. pic.twitter.com/4GrYf5YTR8
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) April 25, 2023
The delegation of Turkmenistan is in Washington DC, USA, to participate in the annual bilateral political consultations.
A press release from the State Department quoted Blinken as saying that the United States "strongly supports Turkmenistan’s territorial integrity, its sovereignty, its independence."
Also outlined opportunities to work with Turkmenistan to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector rapidly, the information said.
Meredov thanked Blinken for the "very good influence on the process of the extending of our cooperation".
This is the second meeting between Blinken and Meredov this year. The previous meeting was held in late February in Astana, Kazakhstan, on the sidelines of the C5+1 meeting of Central Asian and U.S. foreign ministers.
At the regional meeting, Meredov spoke of the importance of intensifying energy and transport cooperation in Central Asia and the Caspian Basin.
At the same time, he stressed the need to diversify energy supplies, create alternative routes, attract investments, and "ensure adequate political and legal guarantees of energy supplies to international markets.
The White House has previously stated its support for regional gas pipeline projects from Turkmenistan, such as TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) and the Trans-Caspian through Azerbaijan and Turkey to Europe.
Turkmenistan is rich in natural gas reserves, but the existing pipeline system is limited to China, Russia, and Iran.
It is not yet possible to enter new alternative markets in South Asia and Europe. This is hampered by the instability of transit Afghanistan and the intransigent position of Russia and Iran on the Trans-Caspian project.
Credits: Eziz Boyarov, Ashgabat
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