The White House said it was closely monitoring reports about the deployment of troops from CSTO members and raised questions about whether they were legitimately invited to Kazakhstan.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on January 6 that U.S. Secretary of State Blinken has shared a productive call with Kazakhstan foreign minister, where he reaffirmed the United States full support for Kazakhstan’s constitutional institutions, human rights, media freedom, including through the restoration of Internet service, and advocated for a peaceful, rights- respecting resolution to the crisis.
“We are closely monitoring reports that the Collective Security Treaty Organization have dispatched its collective peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan. We have questions about the nature of this request and whether it has — it was a legitimate invitation or not. We don’t know at this point,” Ms. Psaki said, noting that they call on the CSTO collective peacekeeping forces and law enforcement to uphold international human rights obligations in order to support a peaceful resolution.
The U.S. Department of State notes that the United States is closely following the situation in Kazakhstan, a valued partner. “We condemn the acts of violence and destruction of property and call for restraint by both the authorities and protestors. We ask for all Kazakhstanis to respect and defend constitutional institutions, human rights, and media freedom, including through the restoration of internet service. We urge all parties to find a peaceful resolution of the state of emergency,” Mr. Ned Price, a spokesman for the United States Department of State, noted.
