Pashinyan, Tokayev Discuss End Of CSTO Peacekeeping Mission In Kazakhstan - Yerevan

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the chairman of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discussed the end of the peacekeeping mission in Kazakhstan during a Thursday phone call, the prime minister's office said

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th January, 2022) Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the chairman of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discussed the end of the peacekeeping mission in Kazakhstan during a Thursday phone call, the prime minister's office said.

Earlier in the day, CSTO began withdrawing its forces from Kazakhstan.

"Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a telephone conversation with the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The President of Kazakhstan provided information on the normalization of the situation in the country.

In this context, the sides referred to the end of the CSTO peacekeeping mission in Kazakhstan and the withdrawal of troops," the office said in a statement.

Mass protests flared up in Kazakhstan early into the new year over a twofold hike in fuel prices. Owing to the rioting and looting that followed, Tokayev declared a nationwide state of emergency, effective until January 19, and invited CSTO peacekeeping forces to help bring the situation under control.