It appears that it was the case, according to two independent sources with ties to the US embassy and a press conference Antony Blinken gave at the end of his visit to Uzbekistan. Of course, I was not invited there with my questions, which I would never agree with anyone. The questions at the press conference sounded toothless and of little interest.

“Marina, everything seemed to be coordinated through the Foreign Ministry, neither the group nor the press service (of the US embassy — Yep.uz) is involved,” Inna Sergeevna answered me in a group created by the press service of the US Embassy in Tashkent specifically to invite journalists to various events (a Telegram group). An invitation to a press conference with Blinken did not appear there.
“This is a Foreign Ministry (of Uzbekistan — Yep.uz) event,” she added later.

“I will bring your concerns about blinken to the bosses and will answer you later. We did not participate in this process,” Ulugbek Khakimov, an employee from the US embassy, wrote to me (spelling and punctuation preserved).
To my request to clarify in which process they (the US embassy — Yep.uz) did not participate, Khakimov added: «The Selection of Journalists.»

Later, Khakimov erased his part of the correspondence, but I still have a scan.

Alas, not a single interesting question, judging by what appeared in the publications from Blinken’s press conference in Tashkent, was raised. Everything looked as if every issue had been agreed with the Uzbek side, or, at least, all those invited were under strong self-censorship. That’s probably why they were called. The most «independent» blogger among those invited, by the way, is a personal acquaintance of the president’s daughter and a high-ranking employee of his office. Is it clear what he asks?
I wonder if Blinken himself knew about the situation with the selection of journalists to participate in his press conference. If he knew, then his words about the importance of free media, which he said at a meeting with journalists chosen by the Uzbek side (?), sounded simply mocking.
Added: Rinat Sagitov (author’s channel «The Voice of Gelsomino») asked me to mention the fact that he was not invited to a meeting with Blinken either, despite the fact that he specifically asked for it.
The Russian original of the story is here: К Блинкену на встречу в посольстве США журналистов выбирал узбекский МИД? (yep.uz)
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