Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, January 13, during a working meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, said that the peacekeeping forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) played a very important role in stabilizing the situation in Kazakhstan, Russia's closest partner and ally. This is reported on the Kremlin's website.
"I want to thank you, the General Staff, and everyone who led the operation for this work and express the hope that this practice of using our Armed Forces will be further studied, adjustments will be made, if they need to be made, in practical work. In general, we need to return home — we have fulfilled our task," the Russian leader said.
The Head of State stressed that the CSTO countries managed to quickly concentrate the necessary forces and means, resources.
"We quickly managed to concentrate our necessary forces and means, resources. Everything literally worked like clockwork: quickly, smoothly and efficiently," Putin said.
According to him, this is "very important" and will allow the leadership of Kazakhstan to solve "issues of a socio-economic, political nature in a free, calm mode, in dialogue with society."
The final withdrawal of peacekeepers is scheduled to be completed on January 19.
Earlier, on January 13, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the first units of Russian paratroopers from the CSTO forces returned from Kazakhstan to Russia. They performed tasks for the protection of socially significant objects in the republic.
On the same day, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that the CSTO fulfilled its role in Kazakhstan effectively. According to him, Kazakhstan coped with the difficulties that arose in early January. In turn, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that the peacekeeping mission was perfect in terms of its result.
On January 2, protests began in Kazakhstan due to rising prices for liquefied natural gas. In some cities, the rallies turned into riots. The situation has especially worsened in the largest city of the country — Alma-Ata. The protesters, among whom, according to the authorities, were extremists, broke into the administration building, set fire to the prosecutor's office, the office of the ruling party and seized the presidential residence. During the riots, 17 security officers were killed, two of them were beheaded. The country's authorities said that such brutal actions indicate a terrorist threat.
President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, amid the unrest, appealed to the CSTO (which includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Armenia) for help in overcoming the terrorist threat. On January 12, he announced the end of the CSTO peacekeeping operation in the country.
