Vladimir Putin to join online CSTO summit on Kazakhstan after violent protests in Almaty

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin will participate in a video conference with the Collective Security Treaty Organization's (CSTO) leaders to discuss wide-ranging issues in Kazakhstan, according to an official statement. Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan will hold a video summit to discuss the situation in Kazakhstan in the aftermath of violent protests, as well as methods to normalise it. Earlier on January 9, according to the state-media agency, TASS, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has also confirmed that Vladimir Putin wants to participate in the online CSTO summit.

The statement read, "Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in an emergency meeting of the Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization on January 10, 2022."

The press staff of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had previously stated that a video conference on the current situation in Kazakhstan would be held on January 10. This year, Pashinyan is the chair of the CSTO Collective Security Council. "The online conference of the CSTO countries’ leaders is tentatively scheduled for Monday," the press agency said.

Russia does not intend to discuss Kazakhstan with US

Following days of violent protests, the CSTO has sent peacekeeping soldiers to the Central Asian country to help stabilise the situation. However, in an interview with TASS on January 9, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov stated that the Russian side does not intend to discuss the situation in Kazakhstan during planned talks with the US, adding that Moscow does not believe that the use of CSTO forces requires extra explanations.

According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken remarked that the US has concerns about Kazakhstan's decision to join the CSTO, and that Washington would like additional information about the reasons for the request. According to Ryabkov, Moscow has reason to be optimistic about the normalisation of the situation in Kazakhstan.

TASS reported, citing Ryabkov as saying, "We cooperate in the CSTO format, including with the authorities of the country, fairly efficiently. I think we have all reasons to feel optimistic about the future from the viewpoint of estimating the normalization of the situation in Kazakhstan."

(With inputs from agencies)

Image: AP