MOSCOW, January 10. /TASS/. The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which was taken by many as a virtual structure, played a huge role in the stabilization of the situation in Kazakhstan, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma committee on international affairs Vyacheslav Nikonov said in his Telegram channel on Monday. The State Duma is the lower house of the Russian parliament.
"Many believed that the CSTO is a kind of virtual organization. It turned out that this is not so. It is already clear that the CSTO has played a colossal role in stabilizing the situation in Kazakhstan," the lawmaker wrote.
Commenting on the unrest in Kazakhstan, Nikonov noted that "all the recent revolutionary events that took place in the post-Soviet space (and not only in it) had a very clear stigma of the US National Intelligence Council, which unites 17 American intelligence services."
"One of its main tasks is to destabilize the Russian Federation, as well as the states friendly to Russia, which are in our neighborhood, especially the members of the CSTO and the Eurasian Economic Union," the official said.
Protests erupted in several Kazakh cities on January 2, escalating into mass riots with government buildings getting ransacked in several cities a few days later. The ensuing violence left scores of people injured, with fatalities also reported. Subsequently, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev turned to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), requesting assistance from the Russia-led bloc. As a result, peacekeepers have already been deployed to Kazakhstan. According to the authorities, the constitutional order has been restored in all regions.