In Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Deputy Secretary Steinberg will meet with President Islam Karimov, Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov and civil society leaders on 17-18 July.

The US State Department said this will be the first visit of Steinberg to Uzbekistan in a capacity of the Deputy Secretary of State.

James B. Steinberg will be the fourth officials of the US State Department, who visited Uzbekistan in recent months. In June, US Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration Eric Schwartz, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake and Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Right, and Labor Michael Posner visited Uzbekistan.

Within this trip to the region, Deputy Secretary James B. Steinberg will travel to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, and Japan on 16-22 July.