Kazakhstan to join Abraham Accords, Trump says

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Kazakhstan will join the Abraham Accords, saying the step followed a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and that a formal signing ceremony will be announced soon. The announcement came as Tokayev was in Washington for meetings with Trump and other Central Asian leaders and follows remarks earlier in the day by a U.S. special envoy who said he was returning to Washington for a related announcement.

Kazakhstan has maintained formal diplomatic relations with Israel since 1992 and already hosts an Israeli embassy, making the accession largely symbolic in terms of new bilateral ties. Tokayev said in an interview in Washington that his country was likely to join, calling the move important and saying it would yield "certain dividends from the point of view of economic cooperation." A White House statement and U.S. officials said discussions with Tokayev and other regional leaders have included expanding opportunities for trade and investment.

U.S. officials described Kazakhstan's accession as the first expansion of the Abraham Accords since the agreements were brokered...