As tensions flare over Russia’s struggle in Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kazakhstan Tuesday for a sequence of conferences with high diplomats of Central Asian nations.
Blinken sat down for talks with Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi after which with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
He additionally held talks with different international ministers from the area.
Blinken burdened within the conferences Washington’s dedication “to the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity” of Central Asian nations.
Tokayev, in flip, supplied his “appreciation to the continuous and firm support of the United States for our independence, territorial integrity, and sovereignty.”
A gathering of the so-called C5+1 group, made up of the U.S. and the previous Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, was anticipated to comply with.
Blinken’s go to to Astana and later this week to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, mark his first journey to Central Asia as secretary of state.
It comes simply days after the anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, which has rattled the area.
None of the 5 former Soviet republics in Central Asia, historically seen as a part of the Kremlin’s sphere of affect, publicly backed the assault.
Kazakhstan welcomed tens of hundreds of Russians fleeing from the army call-up final fall.
Kazakh President Tokayev spoke on the cellphone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 3 times since Russian troops rolled into Ukraine final February, calling for a diplomatic decision of the battle in accordance “with the U.N. charter and commonly accepted norms of the international law.”
However, all 5 Central Asian republics, together with India, which Blinken will go to subsequent, abstained in a vote to sentence the invasion final week on the U.N. General Assembly on the primary anniversary of the struggle.
U.S. officers hope that Blinken can persuade the Central Asian nations that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a risk to them.
The U.S. has for many years sought with out nice success to wean the previous Soviet nations of the area from Moscow’s affect. Some, notably Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, assisted the U.S. logistically throughout its 20-year battle in Afghanistan.
Spotlight on sanctions
Central Asian nations have longstanding safety and financial relationships with Russia which have come beneath higher scrutiny because the struggle.
A latest research by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development discovered a spike in EU and British exports to Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan – a part of a customs union with Russia – and prompt that the circulate was meant to evade the sweeping Western sanctions on Russia.
The United States on the similar time has sought to spare Central Asia from actions on Russia. Washington has issued a sanctions exemption for the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which carries Kazakh oil to the West and goes via Russia.
Unlike fellow former Soviet republic Belarus, Central Asian nations haven’t rallied behind Moscow over the struggle.
Kazakhstan, which has the longest land border with Russia at 7,644 kilometers (4,750 miles), has welcomed Russians fleeing army service and known as for a diplomatic decision to the struggle that respects worldwide legislation.
China, which the United States views as its most vital long-term challenger, has additionally been searching for to broaden affect within the adjoining area.
President Xi Jinping final yr selected Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for his first international journey because the COVID-19 pandemic.
After Central Asia, Blinken will head to New Delhi for a gathering of the Group of 20 international ministers.
He is anticipated to keep away from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, whom he has solely spoken to by phone because the struggle, with the United States believing that Moscow shouldn’t be honest a few negotiated resolution.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
