U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan next week, the State Department announced Thursday, as Washington seeks to engage former Soviet republics uneasy about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Blinken is scheduled to hold talks on Tuesday in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, before proceeding to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, and then on to a Group of 20 foreign‑ministers meeting in New Delhi.
The visit comes just days after the one‑year anniversary of the war in Ukraine, a conflict that has drawn billions of dollars in U.S. weapons and economic assistance to help Kyiv repel Russian forces. Apart from Belarus—whose leader Alexander Lukashenko is a close ally of President Vladimir Putin—most former Soviet states outside Russia have resisted aligning with Moscow, despite their economic and security ties to the Kremlin. Putin’s justification for the invasion included claims of mistreatment of ethnic Russians, a sizable minority in many Central Asian nations.
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym‑Jomart Tokayev has advocated a “formula of peace” between Russia and Ukraine and has allowed tens of thousands of Russians fleeing mobilization to enter the country. Yet Tokayev met Putin in November and described Russia as a “strategic partner.” In the month before the invasion, he invited Russian‑led forces to help quell riots, but quickly asked them to withdraw after public opposition grew.
Uzbekistan has maintained an officially neutral stance on the Ukraine war. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev portrays himself as a reformer open to the world, although his government tightly controls free expression. Last year, Uzbekistan experienced deadly unrest following Mirziyoyev’s proposed constitutional changes that would have reduced the autonomy of the impoverished Karakalpakstan region.
The United States is not the only power courting Central Asia. Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom Washington regards as its chief strategic competitor, visited Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan last year on his first trip abroad since the COVID‑19 pandemic. French President Emmanuel Macron also welcomed Tokayev and Mirziyoyev to Paris late last year and has been in contact with other Central Asian leaders.
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