America calls on Russia to withdraw its soldiers "quickly" from Kazakhstan after calm returns
Stressing that it welcomes the return of calm to Kazakhstan following last week's violence, Washington has called on Moscow to "quickly" withdraw the soldiers it sent to Kazakhstan.
On Tuesday, the United States called on Russia to "quickly" withdraw the soldiers it sent to Kazakhstan to help the Central Asian country restore security after violent riots that it witnessed and prompted its President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to request this military support.
State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters that the United States welcomes the return of calm to Kazakhstan after last week's violence, which the former Soviet republic has not seen since its independence in 1991.
"We also welcome the announcement by President Tokayev that the CSTO peacekeeping forces have accomplished their mission," he added.
This Moscow-led organization had sent a multinational peacekeeping force of 2,000 people, mostly Russians, to Kazakhstan to help government forces restore security in the country.
"As long as the CSTO forces do not withdraw, we will continue to call on them to respect human rights and their commitment to withdraw quickly from Kazakhstan at the request of the Kazakh government," Price stressed.
On Tuesday, the President of Kazakhstan announced that the withdrawal of the peacekeeping force would begin within two days, would occur "gradually", and would be completed within ten days at most.
However, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that the withdrawal of this force will take place as soon as the situation "fully stabilizes", and "based on the decision" of the Kazakh authorities.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken angered Moscow last week by saying that "once you have the Russians, it is sometimes difficult to persuade them to leave."
The Kazakh authorities considered the unrest that erupted last week after a peaceful demonstration to protest the hike in gas prices in the west of the country as a "coup attempt" behind it by foreign "terrorists."
Dozens were killed during this violence, hundreds of others were injured, while the authorities arrested about 10,000 people.
US House of Representatives summons official who helped draft Trump's speech before storming Congress
The US House of Representatives committee tasked with investigating an attack on the Capitol building last year issued subpoenas for a White House official under former President Donald Trump and two advisers to his son, Donald Trump Jr.
The House Select Committee said in a statement that Ross Worthington, who helped craft the former president's address to a rally before Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was issued a subpoena, along with my aides Andy Sorabian and Arthur Schwartz. Donald Jr.
"The commission requests the records and testimony of three witnesses who participated in the planning and preparation of the January 6 rally in the Ellipse (garden) (south of the White House fence), immediately preceding the violent attack on the Capitol," the statement said.
At that rally in Ellips Park near the White House, Trump told supporters that he would not concede defeat in the November 2020 presidential election.
"We have reason to believe that the individuals we called today have relevant information, and we expect them to join the more than 340 individuals who spoke with the selection panel," the panel said.
Trump supporters have sought to prevent Congress from confirming his loss to Joe Biden. Trump claimed that his election loss was the result of widespread fraud.
Four people died in the hours of chaos after Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol and "fight with all their might".
In those incidents, five people were killed, including a police officer, when he confronted rioters, and about 140 police officers were injured. US prosecutors have brought criminal charges against at least 725 people in connection with the riots.