WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Julie Stufft, who grew up on a small farm in Wayne County, Ohio, as the next U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan by a vote of 51 to 47.

Stufft, a career Foreign Service officer, previously served as deputy chief of mission in Moldova and Djibouti, and in missions in Russia, Ethiopia, and Poland.

Kazakhstan, a landlocked nation in Central Asia bounded by Russia to the north, China to the east, and the Caspian Sea to the southwest, is the largest country in Central Asia and the ninth largest in the world . The country is the world’s leading producer of uranium, supplying more than 40% of global output, and holds vast reserves of critical minerals and major oil fields. It has a population of more than 20 million.

At her Senate Foreign Relati

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