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Russia not entitled to interfere in Kazakh decision to end peacekeeping mission — Kremlin

Earlier, the Kazakh president said that the pullout of the CSTO’s peacekeeping forces from the country would begin in two days

MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/. Kazakhstan’s decision on the withdrawal of the Collective Security Treaty Organization’s (CSTO) peacekeeping contingent is the country’s prerogative and Russia has no right to interfere, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.

"It is solely the prerogative of the country that submitted that request with the CSTO. It’s based on their analysis and we have no right to interfere," he pointed out.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said earlier on Tuesday that the pullout of the CSTO’s peacekeeping forces from the country would begin in two days and would take no longer than 10 days.

Protests erupted in various Kazakh cities on January 2, escalating into mass riots that involved attacks on police officers, service members, and government buildings in many cities of the country, primarily in Almaty. Thousands of people were injured, and the number of casualties remains unknown. The CSTO sent peacekeepers to the Central Asian country at President Tokayev’s request. Constitutional order, the Kazakh authorities affirm, was generally restored to all of the country’s regions.