MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/. The process of withdrawing a mission of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) from the territory of Kazakhstan, including Russian peacekeepers, is being coordinated by the post-Soviet security bloc and is not just Moscow’s decision, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
"The mission was not deployed within one day and it also took a certain number of days to deploy it," the Russian presidential spokesman explained.
"In this case, all this is being coordinated by the CSTO and this is not only a question to Russia," Peskov said, replying to a question about why the pullout of the peacekeepers from Kazakhstan would stretch over a longer period than the process of their deployment in the republic.
The sequence of withdrawing the contingents of various countries is also being determined by the CSTO, the Kremlin spokesman said.
The mission’s quick deployment followed "a decision by the side that requested the CSTO’s assistance," Peskov stressed.
"This suggests that the mission was quite effective as it helped our Kazakh friends cope with the problems that had emerged within a short period of time," the Russian presidential spokesman added.
As for the continued enhanced security of the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan, the Kremlin press secretary said that even before that it had been ensured both by Russian specialists and "first and foremost, by Kazakh law-enforcers."
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 thousands of people injured, with fatalities also being reported. Subsequently, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev turned to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) requesting assistance from the Russia-led bloc.
Following the Kazakh president’s request, the CSTO sent a peacekeeping contingent to Kazakhstan. The joint task force comprised military personnel from Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Law and order, Kazakh authorities affirm, has been restored to all of the country’s regions.