Turkmenistan: Top-Tier US Diplomats in Ashgabat for Talks with Berdymukhamedov

US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William J. Burns is in Ashgabat to meet Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov. "Negotiations [will focus on] the expansion of interstate dialogue," the state news agency reported on July 10.

Burns met Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on July 9. On July 11-12 he will visit Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, before traveling to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on July 13-14.

Burns is accompanied by a "high-level American delegation" and will discuss "a range of bilateral issues with Kyrgyz government leaders," the US Embassy in Bishkek said in a press statement on July 10.

The CA-News.org news agency said the delegation includes Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, Robert Blake; the National Security Council's Senior Director for Russian and Eurasian Affairs, Michael McFaul; and the State Department's Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy, Richard Morningstar.