The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is engaged in talks with Azerbaijan and exploring outreach to Central Asian nations regarding a potential expansion of the Abraham Accords, five sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Originally signed in 2020 and 2021, the Abraham Accords established formal diplomatic ties between Israel and several Muslim-majority states. While Azerbaijan and countries across Central Asia already maintain diplomatic relations with Israel, sources said the inclusion would be largely symbolic—aimed at broadening cooperation in trade, defence and political engagement.
“This is about deepening relations under a formal framework, not starting from scratch,” one of the sources noted.
The discussions with Azerbaijan are described as particularly structured. Trump’s special envoy for peace missions, Steve Witkoff, travelled to Baku in March and met with President Ilham Aliyev, Reuters reported. Later in the spring, Aryeh Lightstone, a senior aide to Witkoff, also visited Baku and held follow-up meetings that included talks on the Abraham Accords.
As part of the engagement, Azerbaijani officials have contacted some Central Asian governments, including Kazakhstan, to assess their interest in joining the initiative. It is unclear which other countries—such as Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan—have been approached.
The U.S. State Department, while declining to name specific countries, said the expansion of the accords is a continuing priority. “We are working to get more countries to join,” a U.S. official told Reuters.
The Azerbaijani government declined to comment. The White House, Israeli foreign ministry and Kazakhstan’s embassy in Washington did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Sources added that any new agreement would not alter the terms of the original Abraham Accords but would serve as a platform to reinforce U.S. and Israeli engagement in the region through existing diplomatic channels.
The global housing crisis has reached what UN officials describe as “staggering” proportions, with nearly...
The 13th Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) opened in Baku with ministers, UN officials and urban policy leaders. Participants call for ...
Thousands of displaced families in Gaza are facing growing infestations of rats and insects as worsening sanita...
At least four people have been killed in a major Ukrainian drone attack on Russian territory, including the Moscow region, which authorities say fa...
The World Urban Forum (WUF) opens this week in Baku, Azerbaijan, bringing together governments, city leaders, urban planners, researchers and ...
As Kazakhstan becomes the latest nation to join the Abraham Accords on Friday, here's all you need to know about the agreement and why it matters.
A new country is poised to join the Abraham Accords, the series of normalisation agreements with Israel, according to U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff.
Bulgaria has won the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time, taking victory in a final overshadowed by a boycott over Israel’s participation and the war in Gaza.
At least eight people were injured after a driver rammed a car into pedestrians in the northern Italian city of Modena, authorities said on Saturday. Four of the victims were reported to be in serious condition.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington could destroy Iran’s infrastructure “in two days,” while Tehran warned the U.S. would face growing economic costs from the conflict. The remarks came as Hezbollah reported new attacks on Israeli forces despite an extended Lebanon ceasefire.
At least eight people have died and 32 others were injured after a freight train collided with a public bus at a railway crossing in Bangkok on Saturday (16 May), triggering a fire that quickly spread through the vehicle.
Jeffrey D. Sachs, an economist, public policy analyst, Columbia University professor, and UN advisor, said Azerbaijan and the wider South Caucasus could become one of the world’s key strategic connectors in an emerging multipolar order.
At least four people have been killed in a major Ukrainian drone attack on Russian territory, including the Moscow region, which authorities say faced its largest aerial assault in more than a year.
China has launched the world’s first experiment to study how artificial human embryos develop in space, marking a major step in understanding whether humans could one day reproduce beyond Earth.
Every day, an elderly woman in China’s Shandong province looks forward to a video call from her son. He asks about her health, tells her he has been busy with work, and promises he will come home once he has saved enough money. She tells him she misses him. He tells her to take care of herself.
Bulgaria has won the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time, taking victory in a final overshadowed by a boycott over Israel’s participation and the war in Gaza.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), warning that the situation poses a significant risk of cross-border spread in Central Africa.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment