Christopher Landau is the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State (sworn in March 25, 2025). In that role he is the Secretary’s principal deputy and adviser, serves as Acting Secretary in the Secretary’s absence, helps formulate and conduct U.S. foreign policy, and provides overall supervision and direction of Department of State operations; he previously served as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico and is an experienced appellate lawyer.
Yermek Kosherbayev is Kazakhstan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs (appointed September 26, 2025). He is a career Kazakh official and diplomat who has held posts including deputy prime minister, governor (akim) of East Kazakhstan Region, ambassador to the Russian Federation, and senior roles in Kazakhstan’s foreign and domestic ministries.
The Critical Minerals Ministerial was the State Department’s inaugural multilateral meeting (hosted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Feb. 4, 2026) to bring delegations from more than 50 countries together to strengthen and diversify critical-minerals supply chains and foster cooperation on exploration, mining, processing, trade, and resilient supply chains.
’Critical minerals’ are minerals and elements (e.g., lithium, cobalt, nickel, rare earth elements, graphite) judged essential for modern technologies (batteries, electronics, renewable energy, defense systems) whose supply is vulnerable to disruption; they matter for supply-chain resilience, economic competitiveness, and national security because shortages or concentrated production can disrupt industries and military capabilities.
C5+1 is a U.S.-led diplomatic platform that brings the United States together with the five Central Asian republics: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, to coordinate on regional cooperation, economic connectivity, and security.
The public readout does not list any specific signed agreements, investments, or project timelines from the Landau–Kosherbayev meeting; it describes productive discussions and mutual commitments to expand trade, investment, and secure supply chains but gives no concrete deal details or schedules.