US defence secretary, Mr Donald Rumsfeld, pledged to help Kazakhstan ensure security in the oil-rich Caspian Sea, an area of acute interest for Washington as it seeks to diversify its crude oil supplies.
Mr Rumsfeld flew into Kazakhstan, an ex-Soviet republic in Central Asia likely to become a major oil player in the next decade, as part of a trip to the region aimed at bolstering military ties and efforts to cut drugs trafficking.
A senior US defence official told reporters travelling with Mr Rumsfeld that Washington was anxious to help Caspian security, possibly by supplying boats and radars.
As Mr Rumsfeld arrived, the Kazakh government signed an agreement with a consortium of foreign oil firms, including US-based ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, on oil production in the Caspian.
Washington has been seeking to diversify oil production away from the Middle East and is an increasingly important player in ex-Soviet Central Asia, where it is encouraging Western oil firms to operate and pushing for pipelines that avoid Russia.
"It is important to this country and to this area of the world that security be assured (in the Caspian)," Mr Rumsfeld said.
Yesterday he reiterated that the Pentagon had no intention of establishing permanent military bases in Central Asia as part of a realignment of US forces around the world.
While Kazakhstan has not allowed US troops to be based on its soil as has neighbouring Uzbekistan, it allows American military aircraft to use the airport of Almaty for emergency landings and refuelling for operations in nearby Afghanistan.