Commonwealth of Independent States
On the 8th of December 1991, three leaders met in a forest reserve to sign a document that would end a superpower. Boris Yeltsin, Leonid Kravchuk, and Stanislav Shushkevich gathered at the Belovezhskaya Pushcha Natural Reserve near Brest in Belarus. They declared the Soviet Union had ceased to exist and proclaimed the Commonwealth of Independent States in its place. This meeting occurred just one week after Ukraine held an independence referendum that made the survival of the USSR impossible. The agreement effectively abolished the Soviet Union by declaring all member states sovereign and independent nations. Ivan Korotchenya became the first Executive Secretary of the new organization on the same day the Soviet Union formally dissolved on the 26th of December 1991.
The CIS Charter was signed on the 22nd of January 1993 to establish the different institutions of the organization. It defined that countries ratifying the Agreement on the Establishment of the CIS and its Alma-Ata Protocol were founding states. Only those countries ratifying the Charter itself became full member states. Other states could participate as associate members or observers if accepted by the Council of Heads of State. Ivan Korotchenya served as General Secretary from the 14th of May 1993 until the 29th of April 1998. Boris Berezovsky took office briefly from the 29th of April 1998 to the 4th of March 1999 before Korotchenya returned for a second term ending in July 2004. Yury Yarov led the body from the 2nd of April 1999 to the 14th of July 2004. Vladimir Rushailo held the position from the 14th of July 2004 to the 5th of October 2007. Sergei Lebedev has served since the 5th of October 2007. The Interparliamentary Assembly was established on the 27th of March 1992 in Kazakhstan.
Eight of the nine current member states participate in the CIS Free Trade Area. Georgia withdrew its membership in 2008 following a war with Russia and officially left in August 2009. Ukraine formally ended its participation in CIS statutory bodies on the 19th of May 2018 after stopping active participation in 2014. Moldova voiced its intention to progressively withdraw from the CIS institutional framework in November 2022. Turkmenistan became an associate member in August 2005 due to its declared international neutrality status. Ukraine never ratified the Charter making it a founding state but not a full member. As of the 1st of June 2018, the CIS secretariat had not received formal notice from Ukraine regarding withdrawal from the Creation Agreement. In January 2026, the Government of Moldova confirmed the denunciation of three agreements with the CIS legally ending its membership.
On the 15th of April 1994, presidents of twelve countries signed an Agreement on the Establishment of a Free Trade Area in Moscow. The agreement entered into force on the 30th of December 1994 for those countries that completed ratification. A Protocol on Amendments and Additions was signed on the 2nd of April 1999 replacing bilateral free trade regimes with multilateral ones. Eight prime ministers signed a new Free Trade Agreement in St. Petersburg in October 2011. Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Moldova completed ratification by the end of 2012. Uzbekistan joined in December 2013 while Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan ratified in January 2014 and December 2015 respectively. Azerbaijan remains the only full CIS member state not participating in the free trade area. On the 8th of June 2023, seven nations signed an Agreement on Free Trade in Services in Sochi. A Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia was created in 2010 and renamed the Eurasian Customs Union in 2015 to include Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.
Six post-Soviet states signed the Collective Security Treaty in May 1992 which took effect in 1994. Three other states signed in 1993 leaving six members including Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan after three countries withdrew upon renewal. The CIS Armed Forces Headquarters was abolished on the 22nd of December 1993. Instead, the Council of Defence Ministers created a Military Cooperation Coordination Headquarters in Moscow with 50 percent funding provided by Russia. General Viktor Samsonov was appointed as Chief of Staff. Six member states agreed to create the Collective Security Treaty Organization in 2002 as a military alliance. CSTO members agreed to create a peacekeeping force in 2007. Georgia officially withdrew from the Council of Defense Ministers in February 2006 stating it could not be part of two military structures simultaneously while joining NATO.
The CIS adopted a Commonwealth of Independent States Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms on the 26th of May 1995. Article 33 of the Charter created a Human Rights Commission with its seat in Minsk, Belarus confirmed in 1993. The treaty entered into force in 1998 but lacks strong implementation mechanisms compared to the European Convention on Human Rights. Many activists point to examples such as the 2005 Andijan massacre in Uzbekistan showing almost no improvement in human rights since the collapse of the Soviet Union in Central Asia. The consolidation of power by President Vladimir Putin has resulted in a steady decline in modest progress made in previous years in Russia. CIS members especially in Central Asia continue to have among the world's poorest human rights records. The Human Rights Commission has very vaguely defined authority under the Statute adopted by member states.
A. Elchibey, the second president of Azerbaijan called the CIS a big collective farm that Russia uses to preserve the old empire. American geopolitician Zbigniew Brzezinski believed Ukraine's actions prevented the CIS from becoming just a new name for a more federal USSR. Mikhail Krotov wrote that the liquidation of the USSR was directly linked to the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States forming a common socio-economic space and military-strategic space. Russian diplomat A. Denisov does not believe that the CIS is being used by Russia to realize imperial ambitions or restore the USSR. The election monitoring body has approved many elections which have been heavily criticized by independent observers. The democratic nature of the final round of the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election following the Orange Revolution was questioned by the CIS while the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe found no significant problems. Moldova refused to invite CIS observers in the 2005 parliamentary elections leading to criticism from Russia.
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Common questions
When and where did the Commonwealth of Independent States form?
The Commonwealth of Independent States formed on the 8th of December 1991 when three leaders met in a forest reserve near Brest in Belarus. Boris Yeltsin, Leonid Kravchuk, and Stanislav Shushkevich signed a document at the Belovezhskaya Pushcha Natural Reserve to declare the Soviet Union ceased to exist.
Who served as Executive Secretary or General Secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States?
Ivan Korotchenya became the first Executive Secretary on the 26th of December 1991 and later served as General Secretary from the 14th of May 1993 until the 29th of April 1998. Sergei Lebedev has held the position since the 5th of October 2007 following terms by Vladimir Rushailo and Yury Yarov.
Which countries are current member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States?
Eight of the nine current member states participate in the CIS Free Trade Area while Turkmenistan holds associate member status due to its declared international neutrality. Georgia withdrew its membership in 2008 and officially left in August 2009 after a war with Russia.
When did Ukraine end its participation in Commonwealth of Independent States statutory bodies?
Ukraine formally ended its participation in CIS statutory bodies on the 19th of May 2018 after stopping active participation in 2014. The country never ratified the Charter making it a founding state but not a full member despite the secretariat receiving no formal notice regarding withdrawal from the Creation Agreement as of the 1st of June 2018.
What is the Collective Security Treaty Organization within the Commonwealth of Independent States?
Six post-Soviet states signed the Collective Security Treaty in May 1992 which took effect in 1994 before evolving into the Collective Security Treaty Organization in 2002. CSTO members agreed to create a peacekeeping force in 2007 and include Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.