On a visit to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan next week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will try to demonstrate that Washington can be a reliable partner to Central Asian countries, according to Donald Lu, the State Department’s official for South and Central Asia.

Blinken’s visit to the two former Soviet republics, ahead of a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in New Delhi, comes as the United States continues to rally the world to oppose Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began a year ago.