Kazakhstan Joins Abraham Accords Amid US Summit Focused on Critical Minerals

On November 6, 2025, the Republic of Kazakhstan formally declared its intention to become a signatory to the comprehensive Abraham Accords framework. This pivotal announcement was made during a high-level summit held in the United States, where President Donald Trump hosted the leaders of five Central Asian nations. This decision signals a profound reorientation of Astana’s foreign policy priorities and marks a significant geopolitical shift for the entire region. The move is widely interpreted as a strategic effort by Kazakhstan to enhance its global standing and diversify its diplomatic portfolio beyond its immediate neighbors.

While the diplomatic breakthrough dominated headlines, a central focus of the White House summit was the strategic strengthening of U.S. access to the critical rare earth minerals abundant across Central Asia. These resources are indispensable for advanced technologies and the defense industry, making them a key battleground in global geopolitical competition. Washington is actively seeking to mitigate China’s near-monopoly in the processing and production of these materials. For Kazakhstan, which often refers to rare earth metals as the “new oil,” aligning with the U.S. provides a crucial opportunity to diversify its economic partnerships and reduce its historical reliance on traditional powers, namely Russia and China.

Kazakhstan’s decision to join the accords—which normalize relations between Israel and several Arab and Muslim-majority states—carries deep symbolic weight. Although Astana and Jerusalem established diplomatic relations back in 1992, experts suggest this recent step is intended to inject new momentum into the Abraham Accords initiative itself, which observers noted had somewhat stalled following the events of October 2023. President Trump emphasized the historical nature of the move, noting that Kazakhstan was the first country to formally join the format during his second presidential term, suggesting further expansion is anticipated along this diplomatic track.

This diplomatic maneuver is seen as a logical extension of Kazakhstan’s long-standing multi-vector foreign policy, which aims to maintain balanced dialogue with all major global actors, including the states of the Middle East and Israel. By participating in the agreements—initially launched between 2020 and 2021 and already including the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan—Astana positions itself as a vital bridge connecting the Middle East and Central Asia. This alignment unlocks significant prospects for cooperation across various sectors, including defense, cybersecurity, energy technology, and advanced agritech.

This geopolitical realignment unfolds against the backdrop of vigorous promotion of U.S. interests in a region historically dubbed the “Heartland” by geopoliticians. The Trump administration, offering a clear alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, has already finalized trade agreements totaling $12.4 billion with the five Central Asian nations during the first six months of the second term. While observers acknowledge that deepening ties with Israel may generate complex reactions within the Muslim world due to the sensitivity surrounding the Palestinian question, for the nations of the region, this represents a tangible chance to bolster national security, gain access to cutting-edge technology, and assert greater autonomy in global affairs.