MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the CSTO peacekeeping operation in Kazakhstan in a phone call with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday, the Kremlin press service reported.

Taking into account Armenia’s chairmanship of the CSTO, Putin and Pashinyan "exchanged opinions on the course of the CSTO peacekeeping operation in Kazakhstan," the report said. They noted "the efficient coordinated action by the peacekeeping contingent, facilitating the normalization of the situation in the republic," the Kremlin said.

Besides, the Russian president and the Armenian prime minister discussed Nagorno-Karabakh and certain issues regarding the implementation of the agreements documented in the statements of the Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders of November 9, 2020, January 11 and November 26, 2021.

Putin and Pashinyan agreed to continue contacts at different levels, the Kremlin said.

According to the January 6, 2022, decision by the CSTO Collective Security Council, the bloc's collective peacekeeping forces were deployed to Kazakhstan for a limited time period in order to stabilize and normalize the situation. The contingent includes the armed forces of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Currently, the main mission of the Russian units is to protect Almaty’s main strategic facilities.