The US Secretary of State and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi discussed issues related to Ukraine's sovereignty and the DPRK's latest missile launch during a telephone conversation, the US State Department said.

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said that his position on the country's membership in NATO has not changed. He noted that many interpretations of the New Year's speech were voiced both inside and outside the country, in which he spoke about the possibility of Finland to apply for membership in the alliance.

The German and French authorities have confirmed that there is no alternative to the "Minsk agreements", said Dmitry Kozak, deputy head of the presidential administration of the Russian Federation.

U.S. Defense Ministers Lloyd Austin and British Ben Wallace confirmed during a telephone conversation that they support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, the Pentagon said.

The security talks to be held next week will be crucial for Europe and the world, according to Liz Truss, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and UK Development.

The United States next week, as part of negotiations with Russia in Geneva, intends to discuss the malicious actions of the Russian Federation, in particular, the violation of the arms control regime, the White House reported on Wednesday.

First Deputy US Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will travel to Geneva later in January for talks with the Russian delegation, along with Deputy Secretary of State for Arms Control Bonnie Jenkins and a number of representatives of the National Security Council, the Pentagon and the US military command, the State Department said on Thursday.

Washington has not yet specified which Russian proposals are unacceptable to it, the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation noted

Russia is counting on a fairly quick result at the January talks with Washington and NATO on security guarantees, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrel expressed "great concern" about the developments in Kazakhstan and spoke skeptically about the CSTO peacekeeping assistance.

The Presidents of Uzbekistan and Turkey, Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, discussed Uzbek-Turkish relations, the situation in Central Asia and the situation in Kazakhstan during a telephone conversation on Thursday, the press service of the Uzbek leader reported.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during a telephone conversation with the leader of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, expressed hope for the stabilization of the situation on the territory of Kazakhstan, the Anadolu agency reported on Thursday.

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said that Kazakhstan "cannot be given" to the external forces that provoked chaos, since it will be the same "gift as Ukraine for the United States."

A peacekeeping company of the 103rd Airborne Vitebsk Brigade of special operations forces has been sent to Kazakhstan, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said on Thursday.

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said that it is impossible to give Kazakhstan, it will be a gift to the West, comparable to Ukraine.

Belarus is ready to provide assistance to the friendly people of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus said on Thursday.

The Tajik Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday that the republic is ready to take part in the CSTO peacekeeping operation to assist Kazakhstan.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has published a video of the landing of the first units from the CSTO peacekeeping forces in Kazakhstan.

The total number of Russian military personnel in the peacekeeping contingent of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) There will be less than 5 thousand people in Kazakhstan, the Vedomosti newspaper reported on Thursday, citing a source close to the Russian Defense Ministry.

The first units of the Russian contingent of the CSTO peacekeeping forces have arrived in Kazakhstan. This was reported by the Russian Defense Ministry.

There, it was noted that the Russian contingent of military transport aircraft was delivered to the territory of Kazakhstan. Now Russian peacekeepers with regular equipment continue to be transferred to Kazakhstan.

Sending units of the armed forces of the CSTO countries to Kazakhstan and, in particular, Russian paratroopers, is not interference in the internal affairs of Kazakhstan, former commander of the Airborne Troops of the Russian Federation, retired Colonel-General Georgy Shpak, told Interfax.