June 14, 2010 - 19:20 AMT
Post-Soviet security bloc says Kyrgyz government’s actions not enough

On June 14, after a meeting in Moscow of member states' national security chiefs, the Collective Security Treaty Organization called on the interim government of Kyrgyzstan to take all necessary additional steps to quickly restore order in the country.

"The efforts by the provisional government of Kyrgyzstan to stabilize the situation in the country are still insufficient," the CSTO said in a statement.

The Russia-dominated grouping, which also comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, said that the secretaries of members' security councils "developed concrete proposals aimed at reducing ethnic tensions" to present to CSTO presidents, RIA Novosti reported.

Kyrgyzstan has asked Russia to send troops to help deal with the violence in the south of the country, where the government says 124 people have died.

So far, Russia has only sent humanitarian aid and 150 paratroopers to ensure security at its Kant airbase near the capital, Bishkek, in the north of the country.

The possible deployment of peacekeepers was discussed at the CSTO meeting and Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said the members hoped measures would be "coordinated soon."

He added that the meeting participants "did not rule out the use of any means on the CSTO agenda."

More than 75,000 ethnic Uzbeks have reportedly fled Kyrgyzstan to take refuge in Uzbekistan following the unrest.