Photo credit: kremlin.ru (CC BY 4.0)
An extraordinary session of the CSTO Collective Security Council has been held online, RIA Novosti reports. The meeteng, convened at the Kazakhstan's initiative, was attended by the CSTO member states - Armenia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas, head of the Kyrgyz government Akylbek Zhaparov, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko took part in it.
Putin called the CSTO peacekeeping operation in Kazakhstan timely and legal. He specified that the republic faced international terrorism and stressed that the authorities would do everything necessary to get the situation back to normal.
The head of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, said that what happened in the country was an attempt at a coup d'etat, and the riots had been prepared for a long time. He stressed that the unrest arose "as if by a single command." Tokayev called the incident the largest crisis in the entire thirty-year history of the country's independence.
The Kazakh authorities were able to cope with the most acute phase of the crisis. Nevertheless, citizens were asked to stay alert. Peacekeepers are guarding strategically important facilities, diplomatic work continues.
Russkiy Mir
