Minsk. January 6th. INTERFAX - Belarus is ready to provide assistance to the friendly people of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus said on Thursday.
"Taking into account the current situation, on January 6, 2022, the heads of the CSTO member states adopted a decision of the Collective Security Council to send the Organization's Collective peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan for a limited period of time to stabilize and normalize the situation in the country," the message reads.
"The Republic of Belarus is fully ready to provide assistance to the friendly people of Kazakhstan and will fully fulfill its allied obligations. In this regard, Belarusian servicemen from the CSTO peacekeeping forces are being sent to Kazakhstan," the Foreign Ministry stressed.
The deployment of the peacekeeping contingent will be carried out in full compliance with Belarusian legislation, the ministry said.
"We note with deep concern that the situation in a number of regions of Kazakhstan continues to deteriorate rapidly. The militants have seized arsenals with weapons, as a result of their violent actions, people are dying, the number of injured and injured is growing. Attention is drawn to the clear coordination of the actions of the protesters, the organized opposition of the militants to law enforcement agencies. In fact, we are talking about an attempt of a violent coup and a change of power in Kazakhstan," the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said.
They added that they fully support "the efforts of the leadership of Kazakhstan to stop riots and looting, to restore the normal functioning of the country."
The situation in Kazakhstan worsened on January 2, when rallies against a sharp increase in prices for liquefied gas began in Zhanaozen (a city in the Mangystau region, in the west of the country).
Then they escalated into mass protests across the country with economic and political demands. On January 4, protesters clashed with security forces in Almaty.
On January 5, the Government of Kazakhstan was dismissed. A state of emergency has been imposed on the territory of the country.