German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock began a three-day visit to the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on Sunday, pledging support to Central Asian countries caught between dependence on Russia and China. The countries of the region had hoped to form a bridge between Russia, China and Europe, but now found themselves in a quandary, Baerbock said ahead of her departure from Berlin. “I see it as important that the future for them contains not merely the choice between a tight straitjacket in Russia’s front garden and dependence on China,” the Green politician said. Baerboc…