Kazakhstan says no plan to send troops to Syria

MOSCOW: Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev has not conducted negotiations on sending peacekeeping troops to Syria during his visit to Moscow, Interfax news agency quoted Atambayev as saying.

Last week, the head of the defence committee in the lower house of Russia’s parliament said that proposals were being drafted for troops from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to join a Russian-led peacekeeping operation in Syria. Kazakhstan later denied it was in these talks.

“This question was not raised at all, neither during narrow-format meetings — we had a dinner with (Russia’s President) Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin) for two and a half hours — the question was not raised at all,” Atambayev told reporters.

Atambayev added that such a move, if it ever comes to discussion, would require a United Nations resolution among other approvals.

— Agencies