U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday he planned to visit the five Central Asian countries in the coming year, as he met their foreign ministers as part of a Trump administration charm offensive aimed at the resource-rich region.

Axar.az informs, citing Reuters, the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are set to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday for talks that are likely to include discussions of rare earths minerals and other resources in the Central Asian nations.

Rubio told a reception at the State Department that U.S. interests and those of the Central Asian states were aligned when it comes to working together to develop the countries' natural resources.

"You are looking to take the resources ... that God has blessed your nations with, and turn them into responsible development that allow you to diversify your economies," Rubio said.

“I personally intend to visit in the coming year," he added.

"All five (countries)," he said, "so I know it would probably be a week-long trip. So we’ve got to work on that and make that happen together.”

Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who spoke before Rubio, said Trump had invited the five leaders to Washington as part of a personal push by the president to engage more actively with the region.