CSTO peacekeepers did not open fire during their deployment in Kazakhstan amid unrest earlier in January, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said in an interview with the Khabar 24 channel on Saturday, January 29.

"The CSTO peacekeeping contingent, having arrived in Kazakhstan, did not fire a single shot," Tokayev said, RBC reports.

He explained that the member states of the organization had agreed from the very beginning that the peacekeepers would only guard strategic facilities. According to him, the authorities did not use force against peaceful demonstrators. “This could not have happened,” Tokayev said.

Almost immediately after Tokayev asked for help, the CSTO decided to deploy a peacekeeping contingent in Kazakhstan, with Armenia sending 100 troops to Kazakhstan as part of the contingent. The troops have been withdrawn already.