US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, February 28, 2023.
Astana – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived on his first visit to Kazakhstan, where he held talks with President Kasym- Zomart Tokaev and the heads of diplomacy of the five former Soviet republics. There, he repeated several times that the US supports the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Kazakhstan, which, according to him, is especially important after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He also warned China that if it provided military support to Russia, it would have serious consequences.
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The visit by the head of US diplomacy comes just a few days after the first anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It began last year on February 24, and after a year, it is also becoming a test of Moscow's continued influence in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, as the leaders of the countries of the region gained the courage to stand up to Russia, writes Reuters. Moscow is also trying to circumvent Western sanctions, using Central Asian markets and trade routes, the agency added.
Today in Astana, Blinken met with the foreign ministers of all five Central Asian states, trying to show them the benefits of cooperation with the US, although Russia and China are mainly fighting for influence in the region. Blinken told Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi that Washington supports the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Kazakhstan, which declared independence in 1991, and the right of all states to freely decide their own future.
“Sometimes we just say those words, but they have real meaning, and of course we know that at this particular time they have even more importance than usual,” Blinken said, referring to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Blinken was then received by President Tokaev, who was re-elected in November and publicly opposed Russian President Vladimir Putin's territorial claims in Ukraine. At the press conference, the US minister also threatened China and said that if its citizens or companies violate US anti-Russian sanctions and supply Russia with weapons or military equipment, it will have a serious impact on its relations with Western partners, Reuters wrote.
From Kazakhstan, Blinken heads to Uzbekistan and later to India. Not one of the Central Asian countries, like India, supported Moscow in its war in Ukraine, but neither did they criticize it loudly. All these countries abstained from voting on a UN resolution condemning the invasion as a violation of international law.
