On Friday, May 29, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov met in Washington.

According to a brief official statement from the U.S. State Department press service, during the meeting, Rubio specifically expressed the United States' strong support for the diversification of Turkmen natural gas exports to global energy markets via trans-Caspian routes.

Rubio "thanked Foreign Minister Meredov for progress on recent trade deals. Minister Meredov and Secretary Rubio discussed ways to further expand cooperation in energy, security, and trade," the State Department statement said.