The US secretary of state has completed a two-day tour of Central Asia, traveling to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and meeting with the Kazakh, Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Tajik and Turkmeni foreign ministers in Astana. What was the point of the trip? And why are US options for challenging Russia and China in the region so dim? Sputnik explains.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up a visit to Central Asia on Wednesday, announcing a $25 million ‘aid’ carrot meant to push countries to diversify trade away from Russia, reiterating US support for “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity,” and threatening them with the sanctions stick by warning that Washington is “watching compliance” on anti-Russia sanctions “very closely.”
“We’re very conscious of the spillover consequences of Russia’s aggression. We’re doing everything we can to minimize them, to mitigate them and create lots of different opportunities for partners here in Central Asia,” Blinken said during his meeting with Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi on Tuesday.
Blinken also took a break from regional affairs to take a potshot at China, the other major partner of Central Asia besides Russia, accusing Beijing of trying to “have it both ways” by rolling out an Ukraine peace plan while simultaneously “continu[ing] to fuel the flames of” the “fire that Vladimir Putin started” by refusing to join Washington in its global effort to sanction Moscow into submission.
Blinken’s travels took him to the Kazakh capital of Astana, and to Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan.....More Below
The document’s dismissal of Europe “as a power of no significance signals that there are three truly great powers left: the United States, Russia and China,” military expert Alexei Borzenko told Sputnik.
The US is also “well aware that we’ve outpaced them on certain types of weapons,” the observer said, citing Russian advances in hypersonics, and the depletion of US and European weapon stocks in Ukraine.
The US is eager to end the crisis in Ukraine, which has proven “a dead-end situation" for NATO "from which the only way out is peace,” Borzenko said, citing the document’s conciliatory language on the conflict and on Russia.
Furthermore, “during negotiations, the Americans figured out what the Kiev junta represents, and how difficult it is to negotiate with it. They understand what kind of crooks they are dealing with” and are tired of it, Borzenko argues.
That’s why various leaders’ recent claims that the Ukrainian crisis could end abruptly seems like a real ...
The head of the Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and Diaspora, Sheikh Ghazal Ghazal, has called for a nationwide five-day general strike in a “peaceful and clear response” to the religious persecution and sectarian violence against members of the community under the ruling Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) regime.
Sheikh Ghazal, in a statement released on Saturday, announced that the strike will begin on Monday and will end on December 12, in response to the pressures and threats from HTS authorities.
“Our response will be completely peaceful, and will be expressed through a nationwide strike and staying indoors for five days,” he noted.
Sheikh Ghazal stated that the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad's government late last year was expected to usher in a new era in Syria’s history, but it was the collapse of remnants of the homeland under the motto of freedom.. ..more below
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United States President Donald Trump came to power promising to stop America’s endless wars, but he is on the cusp of starting another one — in Venezuela. Protesters came out in cities across the United States to stop the escalating aggression of Washington towards the oil-rich nation.....more below
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2025/12/07/760163/US-protests-Venezuela-war
