ASTANA: Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday vowed US support for Kazakhstan’s independence as he sought greater engagement in Central Asia, where traditional alliances with Russia have been rattled by the Ukraine invasion.
Blinken will also visit Uzbekistan and meet foreign ministers of all five former Soviet republics of Central Asia on his first trip to the region where neighbouring China also plays a key role.
“As you know well, the United States strongly supports Kazakhstan’s sovereignty, its independence, its territorial integrity,” Blinken said in talks at the foreign ministry in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana.
“Sometimes we just say those words and they actually have no meaning. And of course, in this particular time, they have even more resonance than usual,” Blinken said, referring to Russia’s assault on Ukraine a year ago. –Agencies
