US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shows support for Kazakhstan

Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State in Astana, Kazakhstan, February 28, 2023. AP - Olivier Douliery

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken is on tour in Central Asia.

In Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, he notably met his counterparts from the 5 former Soviet republics in the region.

This visit comes at a time when Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are concerned about Moscow's aggressiveness in Ukraine.

For the United States, Central Asia is an important region, where Russia and China are major players. 

Advertisement

Read more

With our correspondent in Central Asia,

Show his support for Central Asia, such is the intention of the American Secretary of State.

As soon as he arrived in Astana, Antony Blinken affirmed that Washington firmly supports "

 ".

This resonates in a country that shares some 7,000 km of common borders with Russia.

And this a year after the start of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, where Moscow is manipulating the separatist question as it has done in the past in Georgia or Moldova.

This is because Kazakhstan, like the other four “stans”, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, is worried about Russian aggressiveness in its “near abroad”.

For a year, the countries of the region have adopted a position of "neutrality" vis-à-vis the conflict in Ukraine, while hinting here and there their disapproval of Russian aggression.

This Tuesday evening, February 28, Antony Blinken is expected in Uzbekistan, where he should also offer American support, to counterbalance Russia and China.

►Also read 

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

• Kazakhstan

• UNITED STATES

• Russia

• Ukraine

• Geopolitics