TASKENT (Reuters) 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 meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of 20.
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’s invasion of Ukraine.
Blinken told reporters after his talks in Tashkent that the invasion had “fostered deep concern across the region.”
“After all, if a powerful country is willing to try to erase the borders of the sovereign neighbor by force what’s to stop it from doing the same to others,” he said.
Speaking at a meeting with Uzbekistan’s 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.
Blinken repeatedly referred to U.S. support for the five countries’ “sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence” in a not-so-subtle warning to the former Soviet republics that Russia’s value as a partner has been badly compromised by its year-old war against Ukraine, another ex-Soviet state. Five Central Asian countries traditionally considered part of the Kremlin’s sphere of influence did not publicly support the Russian invasion. But none of them denounced him, and all missed the opportunity to do so again last week when he abstained from voting at the UN General Assembly on his first anniversary of the war.
Brinken then watched Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev welcome an ambitious package of domestic reforms before setting off for New Delhi to visit 20 major developed and developing countries, including China and Russia. I will be attending a two-day meeting of foreign ministers of the country’s group.
The G-20 talks come amid growing tensions between the United States, Russia, and China over Russia’s war in Ukraine and China’s claims in the Indo-Pacific. All three nations are in fierce competition to beat each other for influence, especially in places like her G-20. The US and its Western allies in the G20 will urge the G20 to take a more determined stance on war. Meanwhile, Russia and China are likely to encourage broad support for the peace plan China announced last week for Ukraine. The plan was largely rejected by Western countries.
According to Western officials, Mr Blinken said Wednesday that while there are sensible elements to China’s plan, emphasizing the principle of sovereignty is hollow, and that it supports Russia both economically and diplomatically, and currently He said he was considering supplying weapons to Russia.
He has repeatedly said the Biden administration will impose sanctions on Chinese companies that support Russia’s war effort and accused Beijing of acting maliciously.
US officials have been silent on the prospect of Brinken meeting with the new Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang or Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New Delhi. Brinken said he doesn’t plan to meet with either, but added that he plans to attend multiple group sessions with both.
