U.S. assistant secretary of state tours Central Asia

Elizabeth Jones, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Central Asian Affairs, is coming to the southern capital of Kazakhstan Alma Ata on Thursday to hold talks with Kazakh Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrisov, reports the Kazakh foreign ministry.

The sides are expected to discuss the ways of executing agreements on expansion of cooperation in the trade, economic, political and military spheres concluded during Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev's December visit to the USA.

Jones' visit to Alma Ata starts off her tour of Central Asia. According to the information of the US Embassy to Kazakhstan, the assistant secretary of state will hold consultations on a wide scope of political, economic and military issues with foreign ministers of the region's countries and pass over to them the US president's message about the desirability of expanding links with Central Asia.