Conflict and Peace

"We need time to understand better what happened in Kazakhstan, and why", writes Benyamin Poghosyan in this op-ed. Whilst sending CSTO troops to Kazakhstan was clearly President Putin's decision to support President Tokayev in the internal fight between Kazakh local elites, the deployment has implications also for other countries participating in the mission, including Armenia.

Dozens of people were killed in protests in Kazakhstan's largest metropolis, Almaty during the night from Wednesday to Thursday (6 January), according to local police. On Thursday, Russia sent airborne forces to Kazakhstan as part of a "peacekeeping force". According to Moscow, they will be used to guard important buildings and sites, among other things. The Kremlin has not said how many troops have been deployed.

The Leaders of the Five Nuclear-Weapon States - China, France, Russia, US and UK - have issued a joint statement, "On Preventing Nuclear War and Avoiding Arms Races".

“The EU has a profound interest in the security, stability and prosperity of the South Caucasus region as an integral part of the EU Eastern Partnership”. This was stated by the Head of the Cabinet of the European Council president, Charles Michel, in a letter to the three co-rapporteurs of ‘the Joint Liaison Group on confidence building measures in support of lasting peace in the South Caucasus’

Rapporteurs say Armenian and Azerbaijani experts working on a report on how short, medium and long-term confidence building measures can contribute to lasting peace in the South Caucasus are on schedule to publishing their report next March. The group is currently engaging with both governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, and a number of interim discussion papers will also be published over the next weeks. 

EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Toivo Klaar, tweeted pictures of the group on the plane, and arriving in Yerevan, saying that it was an important gesture by Azerbaijan in the process of addressing humanitarian issues.