The President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, has arrived on a working visit to Washington to participate in the inaugural meeting of President Trump’s Board of Peace on February 19, 2026, alongside the Presidents of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and other heads of state. Against a backdrop of deep geopolitical tensions and raging conflicts across the world, Mirziyoyev’s second visit to the White House in less than four months suggests that U.S.-Uzbekistan relations are at their strongest in decades.
Mirziyoyev will be joined by Uzbekistan’s Foreign Minister, Minister of Investments, Industry and Trade, and other high-ranking officials. Uzbek Ambassador to the U.S. Sadykov and his team have been working around-the-clock for over two weeks, gearing up for the Trump–Mirziyoyev meeting.
President Mirziyoyev’s objective will be to elevate U.S.-Uzbek relations from a constructive relationship to a fully functional, deal-oriented partnership with a focus on capital flows and bilateral trade. In addition to his desire for regional stability in West Asia, his signing up for the Board of Peace should be understood as indicating his desire to advance trade and investment and flows into Uzbekistan.
The Uzbeks are keen to nail down new money and capital guarantees to fund infrastructure along the U.S.-brokered “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity,” aka, the Zangezur Corridor between Armenia and Azerbaijan (TRIPP) – a roughly 27-mile-long piece of land that links Europe to Central Asia and beyond through the Caucasus.
TRIPP matters to Trump because it advances two goals at once: stabilizing the South Caucasus while more fully integrating U.S. trade with Uzbekistan and the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR)—a multimodal, 4,000 km transport network connecting China and East Asia with Europe via Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey.
Apart from the issues on the Board of Peace agenda, Mirziyoyev will push for ironclad U.S. commitments and cold, hard cash for transport corridors and their downstream beneficiaries.
Two big reasons driving Mirziyoyev ‘s thinking: first, Uzbekistan is one of only two double-landlocked countries in the world, the other being Liechtenstein—and second, Trump’s desire to nail down a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, thereby resolving a long-standing territorial dispute that has taken thousands of lives. Mirziyoyev knows that Trump sees TRIPP as a path to lasting peace and regional prosperity across the broader region, which fits into the Board of Peace narrative.
Trump has referenced TRIPP repeatedly over the past year, and Mirziyoyev is well aware of this. At UNGA last September 23, 2025, Trump said: “President Mirziyoyev is a terrific leader, and with this TRIPP corridor, Uzbekistan is going to see massive trade flowing through – it’s going to connect them directly to new markets without all the old hassles.”
And as Trump said on November 7, 2025, at the C5+1 Summit in Washington: “I’ve got great respect for President Mirziyoyev – he’s doing amazing things in Uzbekistan. The Trump Route, i.e., the TRIPP, is perfect for them; it’s going to cut transit times and costs, making Uzbekistan a powerhouse in regional trade.” Mirziyoyev is paying close attention to these remarks.
Mirziyoyev will build on Trump’s interest and love of deal-making, which shone through in these remarks by the U.S. President: “I am thrilled to announce an incredible Trade and Economic Deal between the United States and Uzbekistan. Over the next three years, Uzbekistan will be purchasing and investing almost $35 billion, and, in the next 10 years, over $100 billion in key American sectors, including critical minerals, aviation, automotive parts, infrastructure, agriculture, energy and chemicals, information technology, and others. I want to thank Uzbekistan’s Highly Respected President, Shavkat Mirziyoyev. We look forward to a long and productive relationship between our Countries.”
Vice President J.D. Vance
No doubt Mirziyoyev and his Ambassador to Washington have also been tracking Vice President Vance’s statements during his visits to Yerevan and Baku. Take, for example: “I think there is actually a lot of capital interested in this particular project. There are a lot of people across the world who think they can make a good return on investment by investing in Armenia and this TRIPP project.” Mirziyoyev will make every effort to win Vance over to his priorities.
Interagency Meetings
While in Washington, Mirziyoyev’s team should be meeting with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the Export-Import Bank of the United States, alongside investment banks, multilateral institutions, and the United States Congress.
As this process unfolds, Uzbekistan’s vision will remain to build a strong bridge between Central Asia and the South Caucasus, creating a space of unified cooperation that strengthens strategic ties and stability across the region. At any rate, that’s the long-term game plan.
Concerning the Board of Peace, the results will most likely pass out of the news cycle in Uzbekistan within a day or two. How news of the Uzbek head of state’s visit to Washington resonates in West Asia is a separate and still unfolding question.
It is clear, however, that if Mirziyoyev returns to Tashkent with fresh U.S. agreements and President Trump’s continued backing, which is expected, this will catalyze more win-win investments, neutralize the risks associated with Uzbekistan’s double landlocked status, and give significant impetus to more robust economic growth across the region.
Javier M Piedra is a financial consultant with over 40 years of work experience in private and public sectors, international development, finance, marketing and advisory across multiple disciplines (corporate and retail banking, SMEs, hedge fund management, credit reporting, restructuring and sovereign and corporate risk management). He is former acting Assistant Administrator for Asia at USAID in President Trump’s first administration.
