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Putin, Aliyev discuss CSTO peacekeeping operation in Kazakhstan — Kremlin

The sides reiterated their commitment to the efforts to strengthen Russian-Azerbaijani strategic partnership

MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/. The recent peacekeeping operation of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Russia-led post-Soviet security bloc, in Kazakhstan was among the topics of a telephone conversation between Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev, the Kremlin press service said on Tuesday.

"The presidents exchanged views on the recent development in Kazakhstan and expressed satisfaction with the fact that the situation was swiftly stabilized thanks, in particular, to the presence of the CSTO peacekeeping forces," it said.

The sides reiterated their commitment to the efforts to strengthen Russian-Azerbaijani strategic partnership.

Protests erupted in several Kazakh cities on January 2, escalating into mass riots with government buildings getting ransacked in several cities, primarily in Almaty, a few days later. The ensuing violence left thousands of people injured, with fatalities also being reported. Subsequently, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev turned to the Collective Security Treaty Organization requesting assistance from the Russia-led bloc. As a result, peacekeepers were deployed to Kazakhstan. Law and order, Kazakh authorities affirm, was restored to all of the country’s regions. The withdrawal of the peacekeeping contingent from Kazakhstan began on January 13.

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