IRIA News

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kazakhstan on February 28, 2022, to meet with leaders and his counterparts from Central Asian countries. Blinken also visited Uzbekistan on his trip to Central Asia.

Blinken arrived in the region to participate in a meeting of C5+1, an organization consisting of the United States and the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Before the formal meeting of C5+1, Secretary Blinken met with the foreign ministers in one-on-one meetings where they reaffirmed their commitment to boost ties. Apart from meeting the foreign ministers from each Central Asian state, the top U.S. diplomat also met with Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

“We have built very good and reliable long-term partnerships in so many strategically important areas like security, energy, trade, and investments,” Kazakhstan President Tokayev told Blinken as the two met in the presidential palace in Asthana. Tokayev added, without further explanation, that he had received three personal messages from President Joe Biden.

Upon meeting Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi, Biden pledged Washington’s support of the “sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity” of the country, which gained independence from Russia in 1991. Blinken said the U.S. supports 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”.

During his one-on-one meeting with the Foreign Ministers of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken underscored the United States’ commitment to being a reliable partner in the region and reiterated support for the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of the former Soviet republics.

C5+1 diplomatic platform

The C5+1 diplomatic platform is the U.S. government’s approach to Central Asia as it jointly engages all five Central Asian governments. The platform was established in 2021 by the current U.S. administration to promote ministerial-level engagement on matters related to the economy, energy, environment, and security. The U.S. side also repeatedly reassures its support for the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of the Central Asian countries in all its engagements related to C5+1.

After attending the C5+1 ministerial meeting, Secretary of State Blinken traveled to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where met with Uzbekistani officials and further advanced U.S. partnership on a range of bilateral and regional issues.

While in Uzbekistan, U.S. Secretary Blinken met with Uzbekistani President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the country’s Acting Foreign Minister Saidov. Both foreign ministers discussed topics of bilateral importance which include Afghanistan, the value of multilateral cooperation through the C5+1 diplomatic format, as well as enhancing regional connectivity and U.S. investment in Uzbekistan.

According to the U.S. Department of State release, “Secretary Blinken also urged the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the safeguarding of media freedom and transparency.”

All five Central Asian countries are traditionally considered under Russia’s sphere of influence while China wields a substantial financial influence in the region through financing major infrastructural development under the Belt and Road Initiative. The U.S. has often come up with efforts to decrease Moscow’s influence on Central Asian countries due to their importance as land trade routes between Asia and Europe.

The U.S.’s persistent efforts have been successful in some regard as Uzbekistan and Tajikistan assisted the US logistically during its 20-year conflict in Afghanistan, following the U.S. withdrawal in 2021. However, two of the region’s largest countries, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, have always shown an inclination toward Russia, evidenced by the deployment of Russian troops to Kazakhstan at Tokayev’s request to stem anti-government protests in January 2022.