Azernews.Az

The U.S. is keen on strengthening partnership with Turkmenistan. The State Department top official said in Ashgabat the U.S. is interested in developing Turkmenistan as an independent state based on the rule of law.
"We value our relations with Turkmenistan and want to build and strengthen our mutual partnership," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake was quoted as saying.
"The United States intends to work with Turkmenistan to develop a strong and prosperous relationship between our two countries and develop Turkmenistan as an independent state based on the rule of law."
Blake recently took part in the annual Turkmen-U.S. bilateral consultations in Ashgabat.
The U.S. delegation also included U.S. Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Michael Posner, and Central Asia Desk Director at the U.S. National Security Council Kurt Donnelly.
"These meetings are only the beginning of increased mutually beneficial cooperation and collaborative work in everything ranging from agricultural production equipment to textiles to energy cooperation," Blake said.
"The work plan will include action items for both parties on each issue to be discussed by us in the next few days, from military cooperation to combat drug trafficking from trade partners, to human rights."
"We aim to address these issues of mutual interest in a spirit of partnership and mutual respect," he said.