Secretary of State Antony Blinken has finished his tour of Central Asia with a visit to Uzbekistan before heading to India for the Group of 20 (G20) meeting. Blinken met with senior Uzbek officials to discuss the dangers posed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He also attended a meeting with the foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, where he reiterated US support for the five countries’ “sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence” and warned them about the risks of aligning too closely with Russia. None of the Central Asian countries have publicly supported or condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In India, tensions are high between the US, Russia, and China over Ukraine and Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, with all three countries competing for influence. The US and its Western allies will push for a firmer stance on the war, while Russia and China will likely call for broad endorsement of a Chinese peace proposal for Ukraine.
