Blinken holds talks with Central Asian leaders amid 'spillover' from Ukraine war

U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his airplane at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on February 26, 2023, as he departs for travel to Astana, Kazakhstan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan and New Delhi, India. Olivier Douliery/Pool via REUTERS

ASTANA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met leaders in Central Asia on Tuesday as Washington pursued deeper engagement with the region's former Soviet republics in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine a year ago.

Blinken's visit to the capitals of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan was his first to the region as the Biden administration's top diplomat.