WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism, on Wednesday held a subcommittee hearing on shifting geopolitical and energy dynamics in Central Asia in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The hearing follows Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Central Asia last week to further U.S. engagement in the region, and featured testimony from Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, who joined the Secretary’s trip, and Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt.

“This hearing comes at a really opportune time: a week after Secretary Blinken traveled to the region for the first time, and a year after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has frankly shifted the geopolitical landscape in Central Asia,” said Murphy.

On the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Murphy said: “Preoccupied in Ukraine, Russia is struggling to preserve its traditional influence, some might say dominance, in the region or parts of the region. It's redeployed many of the troops that were stationed in the region to Ukraine, and Central Asian governments appear to be rethinking Russia's ability to serve as a dependable security provider and mediator on regional security and economic issues.”

Murphy also highlighted China’s role in the region: “Meanwhile, China, like it is everywhere, it’s ramping up its already active engagement in Central Asia and seeking to build on its really big economic investments in the region and expand its influence into the diplomatic and security spheres.”

“For the last 20 years, our engagement in Central Asia was focused, arguably, primarily on ensuring supply routes for U.S. military operations in Afghanistan. However, it's past time to recognize that our efforts and our interests in Central Asia are broader,” Murphy added.

On the future of U.S. involvement in Central Asia, Murphy said: “This is a part of the world that does have incredible, untapped potential, and that's one of the things we want to focus on today. The people of Central Asia, they want a connection with the American people. Central Asia, as we know, is rich in critical resources like hydrocarbons and rare earth minerals. There are investment opportunities connections between U.S. businesses and Central Asian businesses. And we also want to work closely with Central Asian states to maximize the impact of our sanctions against Russia and provide alternatives to Russian made military equipment. However, this is the final thing I'll say, our policies in Central Asia do need to be realistic and our eagerness to build new ties should not unnecessarily tie us to despotic regimes there.”

A full transcript of Murphy’s opening remarks can be found below:

“We are convening this subcommittee today to discuss Central Asia. When we talk about Central Asia, we're talking about Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the Kyrgyz Republic. This hearing comes at a really opportune time: a week after Secretary Blinken traveled to the region for the first time, and a year after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has frankly shifted the geopolitical landscape in Central Asia.

“Russia's invasion of Ukraine has accelerated geopolitical competition that was already underway in the region, as Central Asian states seek to balance their dependence on any one regional power. Preoccupied in Ukraine, Russia is struggling to preserve its traditional influence, some might say dominance, in the region or parts of the region. It's redeployed many of the troops that were stationed in the region to Ukraine, and Central Asian governments appear to be rethinking Russia's ability to serve as a dependable security provider and mediator on regional security and economic issues.

“Meanwhile, China, like it is everywhere, it's ramping up its already active engagement in Central Asia and seeking to build on its really big economic investments in the region and expand its influence into the diplomatic and security spheres. This is the same story we hear everywhere around the world but maybe more acute in neighboring Central Asia. Turkey, India, Iran, and the EU are also exploring new openings and offering Central Asian states opportunities for greater connectivity to the outside world.

“Now, the United States has been a friend and a partner to Central Asian states for the last 30 years. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, we were the first nation to recognize, for instance, Kazakhstan's independence. In our support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Central Asian countries, it’s been a cornerstone of U.S. policy ever since. Russia's brutal war of aggression in Ukraine reminds us that the words, these principles, of sovereignty and independence, they have real meaning– especially for a region long dominated by Moscow.

“Frankly, the invasion has reminded the Central Asian countries that relying on Vladimir Putin to guarantee your independence is a really, really bad bet. The United States is also frankly rethinking whether the ways we have dealt with these nations needs to change. I would argue that it does.

“For the last 20 years, our engagement in Central Asia was focused, arguably, primarily on ensuring supply routes for U.S. military operations in Afghanistan. However, it's past time to recognize that our efforts and our interests in Central Asia are broader, and that one of the benefits of our withdrawal from Afghanistan is that now our policy in Central Asia doesn't need to be dominated by protecting our presence inside the Afghan Civil War.

“This is a part of the world that does have incredible, untapped potential, and that's one of the things we want to focus on today. The people of Central Asia, they want a connection with the American people. Central Asia, as we know, is rich and critical resources like hydrocarbons and rare earth minerals. There are investment opportunities connections between U.S. businesses and Central Asian businesses. And we also want to work closely with Central Asian states to maximize the impact of our sanctions against Russia and provide alternatives to Russian made military equipment.

“However, this is the final thing I'll say, our policies in Central Asia do need to be realistic and our eagerness to build new ties should not unnecessarily tie us to despotic regimes there. This is a region whose countries are ranked among the least free and least democratic in the world. Let's be honest, we've had little success in a lot of our engagement there on human rights issues. This is a region where Russia and China are still deeply invested and engaged, and where we saw time after time, the limits of our influence during the war in Afghanistan.

“I'm so encouraged by the Biden administration's focus on the C5+1 diplomatic platform. I'm eager to learn more about that today, but also how we can really set digestible series of objectives for our engagement in the region. So I look forward to hearing more about the administration's vision for a right-sized U.S. role in the region in the post Afghanistan war, post-Ukraine invasion world. I look forward to hearing how Secretary Blinken's visit to the region last week helped advance these objectives, including a firsthand account from Assistant Secretary Lu who was on the Secretary's trip. And finally, I look forward to our witnesses views on the steps the United States Congress can take to improve our relations with Central Asian states.”

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