Leading off… Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev are returning to the United States for the third time in six months, this time to participate in the inaugural, Trump administration-organized “Board of Peace” gathering in Washington, DC.
In addition to participating in board discussions on February 19, Mirziyoyev intends to participate in meetings “of a business character” while in Washington, according to a presidential statement.Tokayev’s press service likewise said he will have a “series of meetings with executives from large American companies” in the US capital.
Trump’s board is expected to focus on Gaza’s reconstruction during its session.Many EU leaders, as well as the Vatican, have declined invitations to participate.Also confirmed to participate in the board discussions is Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev will also travel to Washington for the meeting.In case you missed it from the Caucasus… In Armenia, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Karekin II, has reportedly been temporarily barred from leaving Armenia amid a criminal investigation into his defrocking of an archbishop.
The archbishop in question is a supporter of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who has waged a nearly year-long campaign to oust Karekin II, due to the prelate’s obstructionist stance towards the government’s modernization program.
A military court in Azerbaijanhas sentenced Ruben Vardanyan, an Armenian national convicted of crimes against humanity and funding terrorist’ activity amid the 2020-23 war over Nagorno-Karabakh, to 20 years in prison, according to a February 17 report distributed by the official Azertac news agency.
Vardanyan, an Armenian-Russian billionaire who briefly held a top political post in Karabakh, was one of eight Armenian individuals arrested in the contested region in 2023 shortly after Azerbaijani forces completed their reconquest of the territory.
He maintains he is a political prisoner.Georgia’s prosecution of independent journalist Mzia Amaglobeli in 2025 was riddled with violations of international law, thus discrediting the legitimacy of the verdict, according to a legal analysis of the trial and appeals process conducted by the Clooney Foundation for Justice.
Amaglobeli’s case was a cause célèbre in which authorities came under intense pressure both domestically and internationally for abusing the justice system in an effort to stifle dissenting views.
Prosecutors initially sought a seven-year sentence on an assault charge, but, under pressure, reduced the charge at the last minute and imposed a two-year prison term. “The criminal proceedings against Mzia Amaglobeli gave rise to a series of violations of international human rights standards that cumulatively and gravely undermined the fairness of the proceedings against her,” the Clooney Foundation’s analysis states. “Key defense rights were breached, including the right of effective access to lawyers of the defendant’s own choosing [and] the right to be informed of the charge of which she was ultimately convicted.” Meanwhile across the Caspian… Special representatives on Afghanistan from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan met in Astana on February 17 to consider ways to heighten engagement with the Taliban leadership in Kabul on trade and connectivity.
Kazakhstan’s top envoy on Afghanistan, Yerkin Tukumov, characterized improved relations with Afghanistan as a strategic imperative. “These meetings are held to help Central Asian countries develop a common position, which is critically important,” the Astana Times quoted Tukumov as saying, referring to the gathering in the Kazakh capital. “Our agenda is very full; it includes trade and economic relations and transit issues.
But above all, we must coordinate our approach to Afghanistan.” Improving Afghan rail infrastructure is a prime topic of discussion, the Kazakh diplomat added. “Without railways, there is no connectivity [to seaports],” he said.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have signed infrastructure development deals aimed at expanding cross-border rail cargo transit capacity to upwards of 60 million tons annually.In 2025, the countries recorded just over 30 million tons of cross-border traffic.
Meanwhile Uzbekistan, Iran and Turkey have agreed to integrate their transport infrastructure to expedite transit.Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court has issued a ruling that precludes the possibility of an early presidential election, and sets the date for the country’s next presidential vote on January 24, 2027.
Allies of recently ousted state security services chief Kamchybek Tashiev had sought an early election.Tajikistan’s prosecutor general, Khabibullo Vohidzoda, told journalists in Dushanbe that 405 individuals were freed from criminal liability in 2025, after President Emomali Rahmon issued an order decriminalizing the reacting to or commenting on social media content deemed extremist.
Rahmon signed the decree in May of last year decriminalizing likes, reposts, and other forms of digital reactions on social media.The Asia-Plus news agency cited Vohidzoda as saying that the overall number of criminal investigations linked to suspected extremist/terrorist activity had decreased by 314 cases, or roughly 23 percent in 2025 over the previous year’s total.
Turkmenistan’s paramount leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has begun an extended visit to the United States, according to a Turkmen Foreign Ministry statement published February 17.The statement did not disclose details about the agenda for Berdymukhamedov’s visit, but it described the trip as “one of the key events of the year [for] Independent, Permanently Neutral Turkmenistan Homeland of the Purposeful Winged Steeds.” The statement indicates that Berdymukhamedov will meet with US business leaders across a variety of sectors. “The interest of large US companies in investment projects in Turkmenistan is helping to create favorable conditions for the further expansion of mutually beneficial cooperation,” the statement asserts.
The fact that Berdymukhamedov, and not his son and nominal president, Serdar, is making the trip indicates that some deals are in the offing.The elder Berdymukhamedov remains the center of power in Ashgabat and typically handles strategically important foreign dealings himself, leaving his son to attend mostly ceremonial foreign events and meetings.