Daines Urges Enhanced Strategic Relationships Between America and Caspian Region

• June 11, 2026

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Steve Daines today gave a speech at the Caspian Policy Center's Trans-Caspian Forum. Read his remarks as prepared for delivery below.

Daines' remarks as prepared for delivery:

Thank you Ambassador Hoagland for that kind introduction and for your long career working to build America's ties with the Caspian region.

Good morning everyone.

Thank you very much to the Caspian Policy Center for hosting this event.

I want to acknowledge a few of today's participants who have been fellow champions of U.S. engagement in this critical region;

Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau has been a great advocate for Central Asia at the top of the State Department, traveling to the region last year alongside another friend of mine, Special Envoy Sergio Gor.

And visiting from the region are Hikmet Hajiyev, one of President Aliyev's closest advisors,

Erzhan Kazikhan,President Tokayev's Special Representative to the United States,

and Abdulais Kamilov, President Mirziyoyev's Special Representative to the United States.

Our relationships are in good hands with you all.

Several years ago, I read Zbigniew Brzezinski's book wherein he describes Central Asia as a wine bottle and the Caucasus as the cork.

The broader Caspian Basin has obvious geographic importance due to its position between Russia, China, and Iran, but there was also an obvious lack of engagement from the U.S.

I travelled to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and the Kyrgyz Republic in 2024.

No U.S. Senator had been to all five countries in well over a decade.

In all five countries, I met with the heads of state, and we hit it off immediately. I was struck by their message, their tone, their tenor, and how we were aligned on core values.

All five sincerely wanted to deepen their relationship with the United States because of our shared respect for sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.

I then visited the South Caucasus in May of 2025, while Armenia and Azerbaijan were locked in intense peace negotiations brokered by the Trump administration.

I was able to have frank conversations with President Aliyev and Prime Minister Pashinyan and to offer some creative solutions to some of the more intractable problems in the talks.

These were two countries that had been in steady conflict for decades earnestly trying to move toward a stable peace and to build new relations with the United States.

As I visited all these countries' capitals, I was struck by how much they represented the best parts of our own country.

The cities were filled with young families and vibrant populations with sincere hope for the future. I realized that the United States could no longer neglect to invest in countries that so deeply wanted a relationship with the U.S. and whose friendship carried such geopolitical importance.

America's involvement in the Caspian region represents a fundamental shift on both sides.

The countries of the region long looked north to Russia for regional leadership, a convention that the Soviet Union, and subsequently Russian Federation, abused for their own cynical purposes.

Russia made prolonged concerted efforts to maintain strife and conflict among regional states while discouraging broad based economic growth in order to maintain their regional dominance.

The United States concurrently did not prioritize relations with countries in the region despite their outreach.

In fact, the U.S. failed to convert years of counterterrorism cooperation during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan into anything resembling a long-lasting relationship.

2025 marked the end of that era.

President Trump, Secretary Rubio, and this administration's firm commitment to pursuing the American national interest coupled with courageous leadership in Central Asia and the Caucasus has created a tremendous opportunity for a new age of engagement and friendship.

Last year brought the signing of a landmark peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan as well as the profoundly important C5+1 Summit, both events I was pleased to facilitate here in Washington.

These two events, while important in their own right, are indicative of a broader shift to a new age of American diplomacy as well as a new focus on this geostrategically critical region.

The United States, Central Asia, and the Caucasus are at last strategically aligned.

Because of this fundamental change, our relationships are at a point of such goodwill that they should last long beyond my departure from the Senate or the end of this administration.

America's need to diversify its supply chain and expand its circle of friends coupled with Central Asia and the Caucasus' desire to bring their countries forward into the future will drive these relationships and create mutually beneficial opportunities and economic security.

We are expanding partnerships across economic sectors, investing up and down the value chain in critical minerals and rare earths, as well as in energy, telecom, agriculture, and digital and traditional infrastructure.

We are building connections that will drive these relationships forward through strategic partnerships and development MOUs, with both private sector and government-backed investments.

These new systems will be the engine that drives these relationships forward and delivers concrete, strategically important results.

The White House, State Department, DFC, Ex-Im Bank, and Department of War, among others, will all have a role to play.

We are building momentum that will move these partnerships along the path to prosperity. Building closer relations between our countries is not simply desirable but is a strategic imperative.

These relationships must now focus on concrete deliverables, on new mines, updated infrastructure, and AI stack investment. We must focus on getting shovels in the ground or under the Caspian.

Whether it be TRIPP, critical mineral projects, energy production, telecom infrastructure, or other important initiatives.

Hopefully these projects can lead to the ultimate completion of the Caspian Interconnector to connect European-bound pipelines to Turkmenistan's vast gas reserves, a critical project that would provide massive economic benefit to our Turkmen friends while delivering increased energy security to our allies in Europe.

This would also create a foundation and opportunity for other nations to diversify their infrastructure away from Russia and invest in both regional partners and domestic capabilities that will advance global economic security.

But we too must redouble our commitment to these partnerships.

Central Asia and Azerbaijan have for too long been subject to the outdated Jackson-Vanik trade restrictions. I am working with bipartisan colleagues in the House and the Senate to repeal this relic of the Cold War and ensure that America can make the long-term investments necessary to bring about real change.

Brezenski's dream of uncorking Central Asia through peace in the South Caucasus is finally coming true; Central Asia for the first time will have a continuous route to the West that does not pass through Russia or Iran.

This new connection will spur greater economic partnership across the West, as well as greater intra-regional cooperation between Central Asian and the Caucasus.

Further economic integration across Central Asia and the Caucasus will serve our collective interests; creating broad-based economic growth and opportunity for our peoples and bolstering our security, integrity, and resilience.

American investment and capital comes from reliable partners who are actively invested in a project's successful completion without complex political prerogatives or expectations.

I would be remiss if I did not also mention the outcome of this weekend's election in Armenia; Prime Minister Pashinyan has led with courage and determination that is both admirable and necessary for his country's future.

Despite extensive Russian election interference, the people of Armenia have granted him another mandate to lead, and I am sure that he will build even closer relations between our countries. I look forward to continuing to work with him and his team.

The years ahead will require continued courageous leadership both in the United States as well as across Central Asia and the Caucasus.

Those countries that have chosen to forge an independent future free of coercion or domination will reap the benefits of closer partnership with the United States and integration into the global economic system.

I am tremendously proud of the work done with my friends in the Trump administration as well as in the Caucasus and Central Asia to build these new relationships.

The past year has delivered countless landmark agreements between our countries that have created a roadmap for our collective future.

I am confident that the work I have been a part of has laid the necessary foundation for long-term American engagement in the Caucasus and Central Asia. But our continued success will depend on future Senators and administrations, and the support should be bipartisan.

A Central Asian official once described his region to me as a submarine; submerged between its neighbors.

This provides a unique opportunity wherein the United States can utilize its most important asset: trust.

I agree with George Schultz's words that "trust is the coin of the realm." Without trust, true understanding is impossible, and likewise true alignment cannot be achieved.

Because the United States brings with it the promise of peaceful friendship and mutual benefit, we can build long-term partnerships based on shared values and aspirations that will last long into the future.

And while my time left in office is limited, I like to say that I am not retiring but simply repurposing.

I look forward to continuing to work on these vital relationships and issues for the remainder of my time in office and to maintaining the same determination, commitment, and friendships in my next chapter of life.

Thank you all for your time.

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