U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up a brief tour of Central Asia in Uzbekistan on Wednesday before heading to India for what is expected to be a contentious Ukraine-dominated
Blinken met in Tashkent with senior Uzbek officials a day after warning his counterparts from all five Central Asian nations about the dangers posed by Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine.
Blinken told reporters after his talks in Tashkent that the invasion had 鈥渇ostered deep concern across the region.鈥�
鈥淎fter all, if a powerful country is willing to try to erase the borders of the sovereign neighbor by force what鈥檚 to stop it from doing the same to others,鈥� he said.
鈥淐ountries across Central Asia understand this. So does the United States and so do partners and allies around the world. And that鈥檚 exactly why we鈥檝e been committed and remain committed to standing for the sovereignty and territorial integrity, the independence not only of Ukraine, but for countries across Central Asia and indeed around the world.鈥�
Speaking at a meeting with Uzbekistan鈥檚 acting foreign minister, Blinken said he believed the United States and Central Asia shared those concerns even though the former Soviet states have toed a delicate line when it comes to condemning Russia for the war.
"I think there was a tremendous sense of both common challenge and common purpose among the C5+1 countries,鈥� Blinken said in reference to his meeting Tuesday in the Kazakh capital of Astana with the foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Blinken repeatedly referred to U.S. support for the five countries' 鈥渟overeignty, territorial integrity and independence鈥� in a not-so-subtle warning to the former Soviet republics that Russia鈥檚 value as a partner has been badly compromised by its year-old war against Ukraine, another ex-Soviet state.
Acting Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov thanked Blinken for U.S. support for his country and its neighbors. 鈥淚 want to underline that we share common priorities for a prosperous, stable and peaceful Central Asia,鈥� he said.
None of the five Central Asian nations, traditionally viewed as part of the Kremlin鈥檚 sphere of influence, have publicly backed the Russian invasion. Yet none of them have condemned it and all of them passed on a chance to do so again last week when they abstained in a vote at the U.N. General Assembly on the first anniversary of the war.
Blinken later saw Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to applaud an ambitious packaged of domestic reforms before leaving for New Delhi, where he will attend a two-day meeting of the foreign ministers from the Group of 20 largest industrialized and developing countries,
The G-20 talks come as tensions have soared between the U.S. and Russia and between the U.S. and China over Russia鈥檚 war in Ukraine and Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific. All three countries are competing fiercely to outdo each other in influence, particularly at venues like the G-20.
The U.S. and its Western allies in the G-20 will be pushing for the group to adopt a firmer position on the war, while Russia and China will likely be pressing for broad endorsement of a that Beijing unveiled last week. That plan has been largely dismissed by the West.
Blinken said Wednesday that there were elements of the Chinese plan that made sense but that its stress on the principle of sovereignty rang hollow while it is supporting Russia economically and diplomatically and now considering, according to Western officials, supplying Russia with weapons.
He reiterated that the Biden administration would impose sanctions on Chinese companies that support Russia's war effort and accused Beijing of acting in bad faith.
鈥淚f China was genuinely serious about this ... it would have been spending all of the last year working in support of the restoration of Ukraine鈥檚 full sovereignty,鈥� Blinken said. 鈥淎nd of course, it鈥檚 been doing the opposite.鈥�
鈥淐hina can鈥檛 have it both ways,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t can鈥檛 be putting itself out as a force for peace in public, while in one way or another, continues to fuel the flames of this fire that Vladimir Putin started.鈥�
U.S. officials have been tight-lipped about the prospects for Blinken sitting down with new Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang or Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New Delhi. Blinken said he had no plans to meet with either, but added that he expected to be in multiple group sessions with both.
The Associated Press
