An extraordinary session of the CSTO Collective Security Council chaired by the Chairman of the CSTO Collective Security Council, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan took place, the agenda of which included the issue "On the situation in the Republic of Kazakhstan and measures to resolve it."

The session held through video-conference was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office of the Kyrgyz Republic Akylbek Japarov and CSTO Secretary-General Stanislav Zas.

At the beginning of the session, Prime Minister Pashinyan noted that based on the application of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, with the support of the CSTO leaders, a special session of the CSTO Collective Security Council is being held today. Nikol Pashinyan added that a national day of mourning has been declared today in the Republic of Kazakhstan, offering to honor the memory of the victims of the events taking place in the Republic of Kazakhstan with a minute of silence before starting the work.

Afterwards, in his opening remarks, the Prime Minister thanked the leaders of the CSTO member states for their prompt response and participation in today's special session of the Collective Security Council.

"Taking into account the situation in the country, which may worsen in the future, the President of Kazakhstan has officially applied to the CSTO Collective Security Council. Based on this application, in accordance with the Collective Security Treaty and the CSTO Charter, acting in accordance with the functions of the CSTO Chairman, I have launched a mechanism of holding consultations with the leaders of the CSTO member states.

Taking into account the official request of Kazakhstan and the tendency of rapid development of the situation, as well as considering the emergence of a threat to the security, stability and sovereignty of the country, the CSTO Collective Security Council made a consensus decision to send limited-term peacekeepers to Kazakhstan for the protection of objects of strategic importance according to the Collective Security Treaty, the Charter of the Organization, as well as the agreement on CSTO peacekeeping activities," Prime Minister Pashinyan said.

Then, the leaders of the CSTO member states made speeches, presenting their observations and views on the situation in Kazakhstan and its stabilization.

In his concluding speech, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in particular, said,

"Dear Heads of Delegations,
Dear Secretary General,

Thank you for the informative speeches and for detailed information. Unfortunately, there is no visible reduction of tension in the CSTO area of responsibility, we continue to face new types of threats. The situation in the Republic of Kazakhstan is of particular concern to us in terms of receiving information on the involvement of international terrorist organizations. Not long ago, we ourselves encountered foreign terrorists in our region.

We hope that the efforts to help friendly Kazakhstan within the CSTO framework will help restore the normal life of the country as soon as possible.

Colleagues,

It should be emphasized that one of the key priorities of our presidency is the strengthening of the Organization's crisis response mechanisms. Based on this, we expect that the CSTO member states will make joint efforts to further improve these mechanisms, which will undoubtedly contribute to both the further development of cooperation between the member states and the strengthening of the relevant structures and mechanisms of the Organization.

Dear Colleagues,

We finished the exchange of views on today's agenda. Summing up the results of our today’s session, I would like to state with satisfaction the high level of mutual understanding between our countries on the situation in Kazakhstan. It is obvious that our actions are aimed at stabilizing the situation as soon as possible and returning the country to the normal life. This is an extremely important moment for the provision of basic living conditions for the citizens, as well as for the security of objects of strategic importance.

Thanks for attention".