Blinken in Central Asia to boost ties amid Russia-Ukraine war

Al Jazeera :
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Kazakhstan, his first stop on a Central Asia trip to meet his counterparts from all five former Soviet republics in the region.
Blinken sat down for talks with Kazakh foreign minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi and then with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Tuesday.
A meeting of the so-called C5+1 group, made up of the United States and the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, followed.
Blinken’s trip, his first to the area during the administration of President Joe Biden, comes just days after the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an event that has been seen to have emboldened leaders in the region to take a firmer approach in dealings with Moscow.
US officials have said the Biden administration is seeking to step up engagement with the region, especially for countries facing economic fallout from the conflict.
Upon meeting Kazakhstan’s Tileuberdi, Biden pledged Washington’s support of the “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity” of the country, which gained independence from Moscow in 1991. Blinken said the US was helping to support the sovereignty of all of the Central Asian countries by helping them to “develop the strongest possible capacities for their own security, their growing economic prosperity, and the strength and resilience of their societies”.”In our discussions today, I reaffirmed the United States unwavering support for Kazakhstan, like all nations,” Blinken said. “To freely determine its future, especially as we mark one year since Russia lost its full scale invasion of Ukraine in a failed attempt to deny its people that very freedom.”
Blinken added the US had increased to $50 million an initiative to expand regional trade routes and export markets in the region during Tuesday’s meetings.
Kazakhstan, which shares the world’s longest continuous land border with Russia, has welcomed tens of thousands of Russians fleeing from a military call-up which began last September.
“We have built very good and reliable long-term partnerships in so many strategically important areas like security, energy, trade and investments,” President Tokayev told Blinken as they met at the country’s vaulting presidential palace. He added, without further explanation, that he had received three personal messages from President Joe Biden.
Ahead of a subsequent meeting, Turkmenistan’s foreign minister Rasit Merodow said the visit allowed the pair to discuss “some of the international and regional issues”.
“At the same time, I think that it will be a very great opportunity to talk about here expanding cooperation between Turkmenistan and the United States,” he said.
All five former Soviet Central Asian republics are traditionally viewed to be within Russia’s sphere of influence, but none have backed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.