Blinken Holds Talks with Central Asian Nations in Wake of Ukraine Anniversary

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a meeting with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubaev in Astana, Kazakhstan, February 28, 2023. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a meeting with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubaev in Astana, Kazakhstan, February 28, 2023. (Reuters)
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Blinken Holds Talks with Central Asian Nations in Wake of Ukraine Anniversary

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a meeting with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubaev in Astana, Kazakhstan, February 28, 2023. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a meeting with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubaev in Astana, Kazakhstan, February 28, 2023. (Reuters)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Central Asia Tuesday to meet officials from all five former Soviet republics 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.

Blinken will meet the foreign ministers of all five Central Asian states in Astana on Tuesday before traveling on to Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

US officials say the Biden administration has stepped up engagement with the region in an effort to demonstrate the benefits of US cooperation to countries facing economic fallout from the conflict to the west.

In Astana on Tuesday, Blinken met Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who was re-elected in a landslide in November and has pushed back publicly against territorial claims made by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine.

"We have built very good and reliable long-term partnerships in so many strategically important areas like security, energy, trade and investments," Tokayev told Blinken as they met at the imposing presidential palace.

Blinken earlier told Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi that Washington supports the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Kazakhstan, which won independence from Moscow in 1991.

"Sometimes we just say those words, but they actually have real meaning and of course we know in this particular time they have even more resonance than usual," Blinken said in reference to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, also a former Soviet republic.

Russia and Kazakhstan share the world's longest continuous land border, prompting concern among some Kazakhs about the security of a country with the second-biggest ethnic Russian population among ex-Soviet republics after Ukraine.



Pope Francis Will Not Lead Sunday Prayers for a Second Week Running, Vatican Says

A general view shows the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized in Rome, on February 22, 2025. (AFP)
A general view shows the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized in Rome, on February 22, 2025. (AFP)
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Pope Francis Will Not Lead Sunday Prayers for a Second Week Running, Vatican Says

A general view shows the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized in Rome, on February 22, 2025. (AFP)
A general view shows the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized in Rome, on February 22, 2025. (AFP)

Pope Francis, who is being treated in hospital for double pneumonia, will not appear in public on Sunday to lead his usual prayer with pilgrims for a second consecutive week, the Vatican said.

Francis is being treated at Rome's Gemelli hospital, where he was admitted on February 14 after experiencing difficulty in breathing for several days.

His medical team has given mixed signals about his health, telling reporters on Friday that while he was not out of danger, he did not have a life-threatening condition at present.

The Vatican issued a very brief statement on Saturday to say the pope had "rested well" overnight. However, unlike the previous two days, it made no mention of whether he had got up or had breakfast.

The Holy See press office later said that the text of the Sunday Angelus prayer would be published rather than read out.

Double pneumonia is a serious infection that can inflame and scar both lungs, making it difficult to breathe. The Vatican has described the pope's infection as "complex", saying it is being caused by two or more micro-organisms.

"The pope is not out of danger. The situation could go either way," Dr. Sergio Alfieri, a senior member of the Gemelli staff, told reporters on Friday.