Blinken in Putin’s Backyard
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken joined foreign ministers of all five Central Asian former Soviet republics for a regional meeting in Kazakhstan on February 28 following the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Blinken’s visit to the capitals of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan is his first to the region as the Biden administration’s top diplomat. The trip comes just days after the Feb. 24 anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, which has tested Moscow’s influence in a region that also includes Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. Leaders in the region have been emboldened to stand up to Russia by their new-found leverage as Moscow looks to their markets and trade routes in a bid to circumvent Western sanctions.
Credit CRUX