Kathmandu, Nov. 7 -- US President Donald Trump hosted all five Central Asian leaders on Thursday for the first time, a few months after they held separate summits with Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping.



The West has upped its interest with the resource-rich region, where Moscow's traditional influence has been questioned since the Kremlin's Ukraine invasion and where China is also a major player.



- 'Incredible importance' of rare earths -



"We're strengthening our economic partnerships, improving our security cooperation, and expanding our overall bonds," Trump said before a dinner with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.



"One of the key items on our agenda is critica...