MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th January, 2022) The dispatch of the CSTO peacekeepers to Kazakhstan was done following all necessary legal procedures and the US response was offensive and boorish, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday.
"It was a transparent, completely legal response to a legal request. The most important thing is that it came from a legally elected president of Kazakhstan... There have been no questions about how the presidential election in Kazakhstan was held. Everyone recognized the results, worked and built relations (with the elected government). There is no doubt that it is a legally elected president, a legitimate government, which turned to the organization of which it is a member with a request for help," Zakharova told the Soloviev Live YouTube show.
The Kazakh side initiated the procedure for applying to the CSTO for assistance only after the facts pointed to external threat to the country, she noted.
"The West's favorite thesis that something illegal is going on does not work. So, our Western partners mumble, show themselves in such an absolutely unprofessional, disastrous light, contradict each other. I have the impression that they turn to insults out of complete impotence. This boorish insult from Blinken demonstrates the lack of arguments and a complete failure in terms of developing a political position on this issue," the spokeswoman said.
The US has questioned the legitimacy of the decision to send CSTO peacekeepers to Kazakhstan, saying it was assessing the situation. On late Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed concern over the CSTO peacekeepers, adding that "one lesson in recent history is that once Russians are in your house, it's sometimes very difficult to get them to leave."
The White House confirmed on Saturday Blinken's statements were reflective of the US official stance.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared a state of emergency until January 19 over the civil unrest in the country and invited the CSTO peacekeeping forces to help bring the situation under control. The CSTO troops are already arriving in the Central Asian nation.
