AFP – United States (US) Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday vowed US support for Kazakhstan’s independence on a trip to boost influence in Central Asia, which has been rattled by the invasion of Ukraine.
“As you know well, the US strongly supports Kazakhstan’s sovereignty, its independence, its territorial integrity,” Blinken said as he met with his Kazakh counterpart.
Blinken said that the US was “determined to make even stronger” relationship with Kazakhstan, which has embraced cooperation with Washington since its independence on the collapse of the Soviet Union. The top US diplomat later opened talks with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and will fly afterward to Uzbekistan. Blinken will also meet with the foreign ministers of all five former Soviet republics in Central Asia which also include Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
The trip is the most senior to Central Asia by an official in US President Joe Biden’s administration and comes days after the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, which has received billions of dollars in Western support.
Central Asian nations have longstanding security and economic relationships with Russia but, unlike fellow former Soviet republic Belarus, they have not rallied behind Moscow over the war.
