View source for Commonwealth of Independent States

{{Short description|Eurasian intergovernmental organisation}}
{{Distinguish|Collective Security Treaty Organization|Eurasian Economic Union}}
{{About|the association of former Soviet republics|the association of primarily former British Empire territories|Commonwealth of Nations}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox geopolitical organization
| conventional_long_name = Commonwealth of<br />Independent States
| name                   = {{collapsible list
  |titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:center;font-size:80%;
  |title = {{nobold|''(in other state languages)''}}
  |liststyle = text-align:center;font-size:95%;font-weight:normal;
|{{small|[[Armenian language|Armenian]]: {{langx|hy|Համագործակցություն Անկախ պետություններ|label=none}}<br />{{transliteration|hy|Hamagortsakts’ut’yun Ankakh petut’yunner}}}}

|{{small|[[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]]: {{langx|az|Müstəqil Dövlətlər Birliyi (MDB)|label=none|italic=no}}}}

|{{small|[[Belarusian language|Belarusian]]: {{langx|be|Садружнасць Незалежных Дзяржаў (СНД)|label=none}}<br />{{transliteration|be|Sadružnasć Niezaliežnych Dziaržaŭ}} }}

|{{small|[[Kazakh language|Kazakh]]: {{langx|kk|Тәуелсіз Мемлекеттер Достастығы (ТМД)|label=none}}<br />{{transliteration|kk|Täuelsız Memleketter Dostastyğy}}}}

|{{small|[[Kyrgyz language|Kyrgyz]]: {{langx|ky|Көз карандысыз Мамлекеттер Шериктештиги (КМШ)|label=none}}<br />{{transliteration|ky|Köz karandısız Mamleketter Şerikteştigi}}}}

|{{small|[[Romanian language|Romanian]]: {{langx|ro|Comunitatea Statelor Independente|label=none}} ({{lang|ro|CSI}})}}

|{{small|[[Russian language|Russian]]: {{langx|ru|Содружество Независимых Государств (СНГ)|label=none}}<br />{{transliteration|ru|Sodruzhestvo Nezavisimykh Gosudarstv}}}}

|{{small|[[Tajik language|Tajik]]: {{langx|tg|Иттиходи Давлатҳои Мустақил|label=none}}<br />{{transliteration|tg|Ittixodi Davlathoi Mustaqil}} (ИДМ)}}

|{{small|[[Uzbek language|Uzbek]]: {{langx|uz|Мустақил Давлатлар Ҳамдўстлиги (МДХ)|label=none}}<br />{{transliteration|uz|Mustaqil Davlatlar Hamdoʻstligi}}}}}}
| common_name            = Commonwealth of Independent States
| linking_name           = the Commonwealth of Independent States
| image_flag             = Flag of the CIS.svg
| image_symbol           = Emblem of CIS.svg
| symbol_type            = Emblem
| image_map              = Orthographic projection map of the Commonwealth of Independent States (2014–2022).svg
| map_width              = 250px
| map_caption            = {{legend0|#346733|Member states}}<br />{{legend0|#C5DDBD|Associate state}}<br />{{legend0|#48c745|Occupied by member state}}
| admin_center           = {{hlist|[[Minsk]]|[[Moscow]]}}
| admin_center_type      = {{nowrap|Administrative seats}}
| largest_city           = Moscow
| languages              = [[Russian language|Russian]]
| languages_type         = Working language
| org_type               = [[Intergovernmental organization|Intergovernmental]]
| leader_title1          = General Secretary
| leader_name1           = [[Sergey Lebedev (politician)|Sergey Lebedev]]
| legislature            = [[Interparliamentary Assembly]]<ref name="mfa.gov.by">{{cite web|url=http://mfa.gov.by/en/organizations/membership/list/c2bd4cebdf6bd9f9.html|title=Commonwealth of Independent States – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus|website=mfa.gov.by|access-date=23 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823211300/http://mfa.gov.by/en/organizations/membership/list/c2bd4cebdf6bd9f9.html|archive-date=23 August 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| membership             = {{Collapsible list | title = {{Nobold|9 member states}} | {{flag|Armenia}} | {{flag|Azerbaijan}} | {{flag|Belarus}} | {{flag|Kazakhstan}} | {{flag|Kyrgyzstan}} | {{flag|Moldova}} (suspended participation) | {{flag|Russia}} | {{flag|Tajikistan}} | {{flag|Uzbekistan}}}}{{Collapsible list| title = {{Nobold|1 associate state}} | {{flag|Turkmenistan}} }}
| established_event1     = {{nowrap|[[Belavezha Accords]]}}
| established_date1      = 8 December 1991
| established_event2     = [[Alma-Ata Protocol]]
| established_date2      = 21 December 1991
| established_event3     = [[CIS Charter|Charter adopted]]
| established_date3      = 22 January 1993
| established_event4     = [[Commonwealth of Independent States Free Trade Area|Free Trade Area]]
| established_date4      = 20 September 2012
| area_km2               = 20,368,759<ref name="Stat2016">Corresponds to the terrestrial surface. Including the [[Exclusive Economic Zones]] of each member state, the total area is 28,509,317 km² (11,007,509 sq mi).</ref>
| population_estimate    = {{increaseNeutral}} 251,764,976<br />{{small|(including Crimea)}}
| population_density_km2 = 12.36
| population_estimate_year = 2025
| GDP_PPP                = {{increase}} $9.40 trillion<ref name="GDP IMF">{{cite web |url=https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/NGDP_RPCH@WEO/OEMDC/ADVEC/WEOWORLD |title=GDP |accessdate=17 May 2025|publisher=IMF}}</ref>
| GDP_PPP_year           = 2025
| GDP_PPP_per_capita     = {{increase}} $37,336 
| GDP_nominal            = {{increase}} $2.81 trillion<ref name="GDP IMF" />
| GDP_nominal_year       = 2025
| GDP_nominal_per_capita = {{increase}} $11,161 
| HDI_year               = 2017
| HDI                    = 0.740
| currency               = ''No common currency''{{efn|[[Soviet ruble]] (руб) used from 1991 to 1994.}}{{Collapsible list|title={{Nobold|Member states}}|[[Armenian dram]] (֏)|[[Azerbaijani manat]] (₼) |[[Belarusian ruble]] (Rbl)|[[Kazakhstani tenge]] (₸)|[[Kyrgyzstani som]] (<u>с</u>)|[[Moldovan leu]] (L)|[[Russian ruble]] (₽)|[[Tajikistani somoni]] (SM)|{{nowrap|[[Uzbekistani soum]] (soʻm)}}}}{{Collapsible list|title={{Nobold|Associate state}}|{{nowrap|[[Turkmenistani manat]] (m)}}}}
| utc_offset             = [[UTC+2|+2]] to [[UTC+12|+12]]
| drives_on              = right
| cctld                  = {{nowrap|[[.ru]], [[.by]], [[.am]], [[.kz]], [[.kg]], [[.az]],}} [[.md]], [[.tj]], [[.uz]], [[.su]]
| footnotes              = {{notelist}}
| official_website       = {{URL|https://eccis.org}}
}}

The '''Commonwealth of Independent States''' ('''CIS'''){{efn|{{langx|ru|Содружество Независимых Государств, СНГ|Sodruzhestvo Nezavisimykh Gosudarstv, SNG|engvar=gb}}}} is a [[regional organization|regional intergovernmental organisation]] in [[Eurasia]]. It was formed following the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in 1991.<ref name="UIA">{{Cite web |url=https://uia.org/s/or/en/1100027022 |url-access= |title=Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) |author1=Staff writer |year=2025 |department=UIA Global Civil Society Database |website=uia.org |publisher=[[Union of International Associations]] |agency=Yearbook of International Organizations Online |location=Brussels, Belgium |format= |arxiv= |asin= |bibcode= |doi= |isbn= |issn= |jfm= |jstor= |lccn= |mr= |oclc= |ol= |osti= |pmc= |pmid= |rfc= |ssrn= |zbl= |id= |access-date=21 February 2025 |via= |quote= |trans-quote= }}</ref> It covers an area of {{cvt|20,368,759|km2}} and has an estimated population of 246,200,194. The CIS encourages cooperation in economic, political, and military affairs and has certain powers related to the coordination of trade, finance, lawmaking, and security, including the prevention of cross-border crime.

As the Soviet Union disintegrated, [[Byelorussian SSR|Belarus]], [[Russian SFSR|Russia]], and [[Ukrainian SSR|Ukraine]] signed the [[Belovezha Accords]] on 8 December 1991, declaring that the Union had effectively ceased to exist and proclaiming the CIS in its place. On 21 December, the [[Alma-Ata Protocol]] was signed, but [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]], and [[Lithuania]] chose not to participate. [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] withdrew its membership in 2008 following [[Russo-Georgian War|a war with Russia]]. [[Ukraine]] formally ended its participation in CIS statutory bodies in 2018, although it had stopped participating in the organisation in 2014 following the [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|Russian annexation and occupation of Crimea]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Is Ukraine still in the CIS or not? |url=https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/ukrayina-dosi-v-snd-chy-ni/30969197.html |access-date=2022-07-08 |website=Радіо Свобода |date=26 November 2020 |language=uk |archive-date=17 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817153101/https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/ukrayina-dosi-v-snd-chy-ni/30969197.html |url-status=live |last1=Лащенко |first1=Олександр }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-announces-plans-to-quit-cis-terminate-parts-of-friendship-treaty-with-russia/29161689.html|title=Ukraine Announces Plans To Quit CIS, Terminate Parts Of Russia Friendship Treaty|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=12 April 2018 |access-date=8 July 2022|archive-date=8 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708224351/https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-announces-plans-to-quit-cis-terminate-parts-of-friendship-treaty-with-russia/29161689.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=There is no "debt" of Ukraine to the CIS — the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine|url=https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-polytics/2756290-zodnoi-zaborgovanosti-ukraini-pered-snd-ne-isnue-mzs.html|website=www.ukrinform.ua|date=8 August 2019 |access-date=2022-07-08|language=uk|archive-date=10 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710205850/https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-polytics/2756290-zodnoi-zaborgovanosti-ukraini-pered-snd-ne-isnue-mzs.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In the aftermath of the 2022 [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]], [[Moldova]] voiced its intention to progressively withdraw from the CIS institutional framework.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" />

Eight of the nine CIS member states participate in the [[Commonwealth of Independent States Free Trade Area|CIS Free Trade Area]]. Three organisations originated from the CIS, namely the [[Collective Security Treaty Organization]], the [[Eurasian Economic Union]] (alongside subdivisions, the [[Customs Union of the Eurasian Economic Union|Eurasian Customs Union]] and the [[Eurasian Economic Space]]); and the [[Union State]]. While the first and the second are military and economic alliances, the third aims to reach a [[supranational union]] of [[Russia]] and [[Belarus]] with a common government and currency.

==History and structure==
{{main|History of Russia|Russian Empire|Russian Republic|Soviet Union|History of the Soviet Union{{!}}its history}}

===Background===
[[File:RIAN archive 848095 Signing the Agreement to eliminate the USSR and establish the Commonwealth of Independent States.jpg|thumb|Signing of the [[Belovezha Accords]], 8 December 1991]]
The CIS, as a shared [[Russian language|Russophone]] social, cultural, and economic space, has its origins in the [[Russian Empire]], which was replaced in 1917 by the [[Russian Republic]] after the [[February Revolution]] earlier that year. Following the [[October Revolution]], the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]] became the leading republic in the [[Soviet Union]] (USSR) upon its creation with the 1922 [[Treaty on the Creation of the USSR|Treaty]] and [[Declaration of the Creation of the USSR]], along with the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Byelorussian SSR]], the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukrainian SSR]], and the [[Transcaucasian SFSR]].

In March 1991, amidst [[Perestroika]] and a rising political crisis in the country, [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], the president of the [[Soviet Union]], proposed a federation by holding a [[1991 Soviet Union referendum|referendum]] to preserve the Union as a [[New Union Treaty|union of sovereign republics]]. The new treaty signing never happened as the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]] hardliners staged an [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt|attempted coup]] in [[Moscow]] in August that year.

===Founding===
[[File:Agreement on the Creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States dated 8 December 1991 - information from the depository.png|thumb|The Agreement on the Creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States, dated 8 December 1991. The information from the depository of the international agreement is published on the Unified Register of Legal Acts and Other Documents of the Commonwealth of Independent States (under the executive committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States) as of 2024.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cis.minsk.by/reestrv2/print/documentCard?ids=1|language=ru|trans-title= Agreement on the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States |title= Соглашение о создании Содружества Независимых Государств |publisher=Единый реестр правовых актов и других документов Содружества Независимых Государств [Unified register of legal acts and other documents of the Commonwealth of Independent States] |website=cis.minsk.by}}</ref>]]
[[File:Protocol to the Agreement on the Creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States dated 21 December 1991 - information from the depository.png|thumb|The Protocol to the Agreement on the Creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States, dated 21 December 1991. The information from the depository of the international agreement is published on the Unified Register of Legal Acts and Other Documents of the Commonwealth of Independent States (under the executive committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States) as of 2024.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cis.minsk.by/reestrv2/print/documentCard?ids=6|title=Протокол к Соглашению о создании Содружества Независимых Государств, подписанному 8 декабря 1991 года в г. Минске Республикой Беларусь, Российской Федерацией (РСФСР), Украиной |publisher=Единый реестр правовых актов и других документов Содружества Независимых Государств  [Unified register of legal acts and other documents of the Commonwealth of Independent States] |trans-title= Protocol to the Agreement on the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States, signed on December 8, 1991 in the city of Minsk Republic of Belarus, Russian Federation (RSFSR), Ukraine |language=ru|website=cis.minsk.by}}</ref>]]
Following the events of the [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt|failed 1991 coup]], many republics of the USSR declared their independence, fearing another coup. A week after the [[1991 Ukrainian independence referendum|Ukrainian independence referendum was held]], which kept the chances of the Soviet Union staying together low, the Commonwealth of Independent States was founded in its place on 8 December 1991 by the [[Byelorussian SSR]], the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]], and the [[Ukrainian SSR]], when the leaders of the three republics met at the [[Belovezhskaya Pushcha]] Natural Reserve,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-38416657 |title=How three men signed the USSR's death warrant |first=Dina |last=Newman |date=24 December 2016 |website=BBCNews |access-date=7 December 2022 |archive-date=7 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207050820/https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-38416657 |url-status=live }}</ref> about {{convert|50|km|mi|abbr=on}} north of [[Brest, Belarus|Brest]] in Belarus, and signed the "Agreement Establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States", known as the [[Belovezha Accords]].{{Efn|{{langx|ru|Беловежские соглашения|translit=Belovezhskiye soglasheniya|engvar=gb}}}}

The CIS announced that the new organisation would be open to all republics of the former Soviet Union and to other nations sharing the same goals. The CIS charter stated that all the members were sovereign and independent nations and thereby effectively abolished the Soviet Union. On 21 December 1991, the leaders of eight additional former Soviet Republics ([[Armenia]], [[Azerbaijan]], [[Kazakhstan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Moldova]], [[Turkmenistan]], [[Tajikistan]], and [[Uzbekistan]]) signed the [[Alma-Ata Protocol]] which can either be interpreted as expanding the CIS to these states or the proper foundation or foundation date of the CIS,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Plokhy |first=Serhii |title=The Last Empire: The final days of the Soviet Union |publisher=Oneworld |place=London |date=2014 |isbn=978-1-7807-4646-3 |pages=356–365}}</ref> thus bringing the number of participating countries to 11.<ref name="declaration">[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/belarus/by_appnc.html Alma-Ata Declaration] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20121213075812/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/belarus/by_appnc.html|date=13 December 2012}}: 11 countries accede to the CIS, 21 December 1991 ('''English translation'''). '''Russian''' text here [https://web.archive.org/web/20060103164158/http://www.cis.minsk.by/main.aspx?uid=178]</ref> [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] joined two years later, in December 1993.<ref name="ratification">[http://cis.minsk.by/sm.aspx?uid=11368 Ratification status of CIS documents as of 15 January 2008] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030122332/http://cis.minsk.by/sm.aspx?uid=11368|date=30 October 2008}} ('''Russian''')</ref> At this point, 12 of the 15 former Soviet Republics participated in the CIS, the three non-participants being the [[Baltic states]]. The CIS and the Soviet Union also legally co-existed briefly with each other until 26 December 1991, when the [[Soviet of the Republics]] formally dissolved the Soviet Union. This was followed by Ivan Korotchenya becoming Executive Secretary of the CIS on the same day.<ref name="agreement">{{usurped|[http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20060720175013/http://www.therussiasite.org/legal/laws/CISagreement.html Agreement on the Establishment of the CIS]}}: 3 founding countries, 8 December 1991 ('''unofficial English translation'''). '''Russian''' text here [https://web.archive.org/web/20060721024111/http://cis.minsk.by/main.aspx?uid=176]</ref>

After the end of the dissolution process of the Soviet Union, Russia and the Central Asian republics were weakened economically and faced declines in [[GDP]]. [[Post-Soviet states]] underwent economic reforms and [[privatisation]].<ref group="journal">{{cite web |title=Russian Federation |url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/7/50/2452793.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226203432/http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/7/50/2452793.pdf |archive-date=26 February 2008 |access-date=7 July 2014 |publisher=Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Russia Economic Conditions in Mid-1996 |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ru0119) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726090900/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+ru0119%29 |archive-date=26 July 2013 |access-date=7 July 2014 |publisher=Library of Congress}}</ref> The process of Eurasian integration began immediately after the breakup of the Soviet Union to salvage economic ties with post-Soviet republics.<ref name="eurasiancommission.org" group="journal">{{cite web |title=Eurasian economic integration: figures and facts |url=http://www.eurasiancommission.org/en/Documents/broshura26_ENGL_2014.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714183140/http://www.eurasiancommission.org/en/Documents/broshura26_ENGL_2014.pdf |archive-date=14 July 2014 |access-date=7 July 2014}}</ref>

===CIS Charter===
[[File:CIS Summit 20-22 June 2000-1.jpg|thumb|The 20–22 June 2000 CIS Summit]]

On 22 January 1993, the Charter (Statutes) of the CIS was signed, setting up the different institutions of the CIS, their functions, and the rules and statutes of the CIS. The Charter also defined that all countries that have ratified the Agreement on the Establishment of the CIS and its relevant (Alma-Ata) Protocol would be considered to be founding states of the CIS, with only those countries ratifying the Charter being considered to be member states of the CIS (art. 7). Other states can participate as associate members or observers if accepted as such by a decision of the Council of Heads of State to the CIS (art. 8).

All the founding states, apart from Ukraine and Turkmenistan, ratified the [[CIS Charter|Charter of the CIS]] and became member states of it. Nevertheless, Ukraine and Turkmenistan kept participating in the CIS, without being member states of it. Turkmenistan became an associate member of the CIS in August 2005. Georgia left the CIS altogether in 2009 and Ukraine stopped participating in 2018.

===General secretary===
{{Main|General Secretary of the CIS}}
The work of CIS is coordinated by the general secretary.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+General secretaries
!Name
!Term
|-
| style="text-align: left;" |{{flagicon|Belarus|1991}} / {{flagicon|Belarus}} [[Ivan Korotchenya]]
| style="text-align: left;" |14 May 1993 – 29 April 1998
|-
| style="text-align: left;" |{{flagicon|Russia}} [[Boris Berezovsky (businessman)|Boris Berezovsky]]
| style="text-align: left;" |29 April 1998 – 4 March 1999
|-
| style="text-align: left;" |{{flagicon|Belarus}} [[Ivan Korotchenya]]
| style="text-align: left;" |4 March 1999&nbsp;– 2 April 1999
|-
| style="text-align: left;" |{{flagicon|Russia}} [[Yury Yarov]]
| style="text-align: left;" |2 April 1999 – 14 July 2004
|-
| style="text-align: left;" |{{flagicon|Russia}} [[Vladimir Rushailo]]
| style="text-align: left;" |14 July 2004 – 5 October 2007
|-
| style="text-align: left;" |{{flagicon|Russia}} [[Sergey Lebedev (politician)|Sergei Lebedev]]
| style="text-align: left;" |5 October 2007 – present
|}

===Interparliamentary Assembly===
The [[Interparliamentary Assembly]] was established on 27 March 1992 in [[Kazakhstan]]. On 26 May 1995, the CIS leaders signed the Convention on the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States eventually ratified by nine parliaments; the only CIS member not signing was Georgia. Under the terms of the convention, the InterParliamentary Assembly (IPA) was invested with international legitimacy.

It is housed in the [[Tauride Palace]] in [[St Petersburg]] and acts as the consultative parliamentary wing of the CIS, created to discuss problems of parliamentary cooperation, review draft documents of common interest, and pass model laws to the national legislatures in the CIS (as well as recommendations) for their use in the preparation of new laws and amendments to existing legislation. More than 130 documents have been adopted that ensure the convergence of laws in the CIS at the level of national legislation. The Assembly is actively involved in the development of integration processes in the CIS and also sends observers to the national elections.<ref>{{cite web |author=Information and Publish. Department |title=CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly |url=http://www.cisstat.com/eng/c3.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508224227/http://www.cisstat.com/eng/c3.htm |archive-date=8 May 2013 |access-date=23 July 2013 |publisher=Cisstat.com}}</ref> The Assembly held its 32nd Plenary meeting in [[Saint Petersburg]] on 14 May 2009.

===Further developments===
Between 2003 and 2005, three CIS member states experienced a change of government in a series of [[colour revolution]]s: [[Eduard Shevardnadze]] was overthrown in Georgia; [[Viktor Yushchenko]] was elected in Ukraine; and [[Askar Akayev]] was toppled in Kyrgyzstan.

In February 2006, Georgia withdrew from the Council of Defense Ministers, with the statement that "Georgia has taken a course to join NATO and it cannot be part of two military structures simultaneously",<ref name="auto4">{{cite web |url=http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/03-02-2006/75406-georgia-0 |title=Georgia opts out of ex-Soviet military cooperation body |publisher=Pravda.Ru |date=11 September 2001 |access-date=23 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309184319/http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/03-02-2006/75406-georgia-0/ |archive-date=9 March 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> but it remained a full member of the CIS until August 2009, one year after officially withdrawing in the immediate aftermath of the [[Russo-Georgian War]].

In March 2007, [[Igor Ivanov]], the secretary of the Russian Security Council, expressed his doubts concerning the usefulness of the CIS, emphasising that the [[Eurasian Economic Community]] was becoming a more competent organisation to unify the largest countries of the CIS.<ref>[http://www.infoniac.com/news/russia-nato.html Russia questions further existence of the CIS post-soviet organisation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070323232638/http://www.infoniac.com/news/russia-nato.html |date=23 March 2007 }} ''InfoNIAC''</ref> Following the withdrawal of Georgia, the presidents of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan skipped the October 2009 meeting of the CIS, each having their own issues and disagreements with the Russian Federation.<ref>{{cite news |last=Pannier |first=Bruce |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/Russia_Facing_Resistance_With_Allies_On_CISs_Southern_Flank/1847880.html |title=Russia Facing Resistance With Allies On CIS's Southern Flank |newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=9 October 2009 |publisher=Rferl.org |access-date=23 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509223547/http://www.rferl.org/content/Russia_Facing_Resistance_With_Allies_On_CISs_Southern_Flank/1847880.html |archive-date=9 May 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In May 2009, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine joined the [[Eastern Partnership]] (EaP), a project that was initiated by the [[European Union]] (EU). The EaP framework governs the EU's relationship with the [[post-Soviet states]] of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage_en/419/Eastern%20Partnership|title=Eastern Partnership – EEAS – European External Action Service – European Commission|website=EEAS – European External Action Service|language=en|access-date=2018-12-10}} Content is copied from this source, which is (c) European Union, 1995–2018. Reuse is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged.</ref>

==Membership==
[[File:Map of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).png|800px|center]]

There are nine full [[member states]] of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The Creation Agreement remained the main constituent document of the CIS until January 1993, when the CIS Charter ({{langx|ru|Устав|Ustav|engvar=gb}}) was adopted.<ref name="charter">[http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20060720174729/http://www.therussiasite.org/legal/laws/CIScharter.html CIS Charter], 22 January 1993 ('''unofficial English translation'''). [https://web.archive.org/web/20060723002729/http://cis.minsk.by/main.aspx?uid=180 '''Russian''' text here]</ref> The charter formalised the concept of membership: a member country is defined as a country that ratifies the CIS Charter (sec. 2, art. 7). Additional members can join with the consent of all current members.<ref name="tre38"/> Parties that ratified the Creation Agreement before the adoption of the Charter are considered to be "Founding states", but not members.

===Member states===
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"; width=100%
|-
! scope="col" | Country<ref name="depositary">{{cite web|url=https://cis.minsk.by/reestrv2/doc/1#documentCard|title=Соглашение о создании Содружества Независимых Государств|access-date=2025-04-05|publisher=Commonwealth of Independent States}}</ref><ref name="depositary-protocol">{{cite web|url=https://cis.minsk.by/reestrv2/doc/6#documentCard|title=Протокол к Соглашению о создании Содружества Независимых Государств, подписанному 8 декабря 1991 года в г. Минске Республикой Беларусь, Российской Федерацией (РСФСР), Украиной|access-date=2025-04-05|publisher=Commonwealth of Independent States}}</ref><!--Useful: http://www.sudsng.org/download_files/rh/1994/Rh_02_94_310394.pdf-->
! scope="col" | Signed
! scope="col" | {{nowrap|Agreement ratified}}
! scope="col" | Charter ratified<ref name="depositary-charter">{{cite web|url=https://cis.minsk.by/reestrv2/doc/187#documentCard|title=Устав Содружества Независимых Государств|access-date=2025-04-05|publisher=Commonwealth of Independent States}}</ref><ref name="tre38"/>
! scope="col" | Notes
|-
! scope="row" | {{flag|Armenia}}
| {{dts|21 December 1991}}
| {{dts|18 February 1992}}
| {{dts|16 March 1994}}
| Founding state. Signatory of the Alma-Ata Protocol
|-
! scope="row" | {{flag|Azerbaijan}}
| {{dts|21 December 1991}}
| {{dts|24 September 1993}}
| {{dts|14 December 1993}}<ref name="tre38">{{cite web |title=Charter of the Commonwealth of Independent States (with declaration and decisions). Adopted at Minsk on 22 Jan uary 1993 |url=https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%201819/volume-1819-I-31139-English.pdf |date=3 August 1994}}</ref>
| Signatory of the Alma-Ata Protocol.
|-
! scope="row" | {{flag|Belarus}}
| {{dts|8 December 1991}}
| {{dts|10 December 1991}}
| {{dts|18 January 1994}}
| Founding state. Signatory of both the Belovezha Accords and the Alma-Ata Protocol.
|-
! scope="row" | {{nowrap|{{flag|Kazakhstan}}}}
| {{dts|21 December 1991}}
| {{dts|23 December 1991}}
| {{dts|20 April 1994}}
| Founding state. Signatory of the Alma-Ata Protocol.
|-
! scope="row" | {{flag|Kyrgyzstan}}
| {{dts|21 December 1991}}
| {{dts|6 March 1992}}
| {{dts|12 April 1994}}
| Founding state. Signatory of the Alma-Ata Protocol.
|-
! scope="row" | {{nowrap|{{flag|Moldova}}}}
| {{dts|21 December 1991}}
| {{dts|8 April 1994}}
| {{dts|27 June 1994}}
| Signatory of the Alma-Ata Protocol. Active participation in CIS ceased in November 2022.<ref name=":1"/><br />{{As of|2025}}, Moldova reduced its participation only to economic, social protection, and healthcare agreements.<ref name="ESPHA">{{cite web |title=Moldova not planning to withdraw from CIS economic, social protection, healthcare agreements |url=https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/109088/ |website=interfax.com |access-date=26 March 2025 |language=English |date=14 Jan 2025 |quote=Moldova's withdrawal from agreements with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will not apply to economic affairs, social protection and healthcare, Moldovan Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi said.}}</ref>
|-
! scope="row" | {{flag|Russia}}
| {{dts|8 December 1991}}
| {{dts|12 December 1991}}
| {{dts|20 July 1993}}
| Founding state. Signatory of both the Belovezha Accords and the Alma-Ata Protocol.
|-
! scope="row" | {{flag|Tajikistan}}
| {{dts|21 December 1991}}
| {{dts|26 June 1993}}
| {{dts|14 August 1993}}
| Signatory of the Alma-Ata Protocol.
|-
! scope="row" | {{flag|Uzbekistan}}
| {{dts|21 December 1991}}
| {{dts|4 January 1992}}
| {{dts|9 February 1994}}
| Founding state. Signatory of the Alma-Ata Protocol.
|}

====Moldova====
In light of Russia's support for the independence of occupied regions within Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine<ref>{{cite news |last=Buckley |first=Neil |date=25 November 2014 |title=Georgia calls on west to condemn Abkhazia treaty with Russia |newspaper=[[Financial Times]] |url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/0898a824-74a6-11e4-b30b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3ZeRLwHMN |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=9 May 2015 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210211228/https://www.ft.com/content/0898a824-74a6-11e4-b30b-00144feabdc0#axzz3ZeRLwHMN |archive-date=10 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Rettman |first=Andrew |date=7 May 2015 |title=Donbas: A new 'black hole' in Europe |url=https://euobserver.com/foreign/128618 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518091557/https://euobserver.com/foreign/128618 |archive-date=18 May 2015 |access-date=9 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=26 April 2015 |title=Russia Erecting Monument to 'Little Green Men' Who Took Over Crimea |url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-erecting-monument-to-little-green-men-who-took-over-crimea/519768.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150428215115/http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-erecting-monument-to-little-green-men-who-took-over-crimea/519768.html |archive-date=28 April 2015 |access-date=9 May 2015 |newspaper=[[Moscow Times]]}}</ref> as well as its violation of the [[Adapted Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty|Istanbul Agreement]], legislative initiatives to denounce the agreement on the creation of CIS were tabled in Moldova's parliament on 25 March 2014, though they were not approved.<ref>[http://www.ukrinform.ua/rus/news/v_moldove_predlagayut_denonsirovat_soglashenie_o_sozdanii_sng_1616922 In Moldova propose to denounce the agreement on creation of CIS] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705200406/http://www.ukrinform.ua/rus/news/v_moldove_predlagayut_denonsirovat_soglashenie_o_sozdanii_sng_1616922|date=5 July 2015}}. [[Ukrinform]]. 25 March 2014</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Proiectul hotărîrii cu privire la denunțarea Acordului de constituire a Comunității Statelor Independente |url=http://www.parlament.md/ProcesulLegislativ/Proiectedeactelegislative/tabid/61/LegislativId/2227/language/ro-RO/Default.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141105013227/http://www.parlament.md/ProcesulLegislativ/Proiectedeactelegislative/tabid/61/LegislativId/2227/language/ro-RO/Default.aspx |archive-date=5 November 2014 |access-date=4 November 2014 |publisher=[[Parliament of the Republic of Moldova]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Proiectul legii cu privire la denunțarea Acordului de constituire a Comunității Statelor Independente nr.40-XII din 08.04.1994 |url=http://www.parlament.md/ProcesulLegislativ/Proiectedeactelegislative/tabid/61/LegislativId/2230/language/ro-RO/Default.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141105013231/http://www.parlament.md/ProcesulLegislativ/Proiectedeactelegislative/tabid/61/LegislativId/2230/language/ro-RO/Default.aspx |archive-date=5 November 2014 |access-date=4 November 2014 |publisher=[[Parliament of the Republic of Moldova]]}}</ref> A similar bill was proposed in January 2018.<ref>{{cite web |date=2 January 2018 |title=Proiectul hotărîrii cu privire la denunțarea Acordului de constituire a Comunității Statelor Independente |url=http://www.parlament.md/ProcesulLegislativ/Proiectedeactelegislative/tabid/61/LegislativId/4050/language/ro-RO/Default.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131023316/http://www.parlament.md/ProcesulLegislativ/Proiectedeactelegislative/tabid/61/LegislativId/4050/language/ro-RO/Default.aspx |archive-date=31 January 2018 |access-date=29 January 2018 |publisher=[[Parliament of the Republic of Moldova]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=25 January 2018 |title=Moldova Says It Would Leave CIS Only After Becoming EU Candidate |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/moldova-eu-candidate-cis-leanca/28998630.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129174041/https://www.rferl.org/a/moldova-eu-candidate-cis-leanca/28998630.html |archive-date=29 January 2018 |access-date=29 January 2018 |publisher=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]]}}</ref>

On 14 June 2022, Moldovan Minister of Foreign Affairs [[Nicu Popescu]] said the Moldovan government was considering the prospect of leaving the CIS, although at the end of May President [[Maia Sandu]] had said the country would not leave for the time being.<ref name=":3">{{cite web |title=Moldova looking into quitting CIS amid Russia-Ukraine war – foreign min |url=https://seenews.com/news/moldova-looking-into-quitting-cis-amid-russia-ukraine-war-foreign-min-788184 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220614162511/https://seenews.com/news/moldova-looking-into-quitting-cis-amid-russia-ukraine-war-foreign-min-788184 |archive-date=14 June 2022 |access-date=18 June 2022 |website=seenews.com|date=14 June 2022 }}</ref> An August 2021 poll conducted in Moldova (prior to the start of [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine|Russia's invasion of Ukraine]]) found that 48.1% of respondents supported Moldova's withdrawal from the CIS.<ref>{{cite web |date=2021-08-02 |title=Poll: Over 70% Moldovans favor EU membership |url=https://www.kyivpost.com/world/poll-over-70-moldovans-favor-eu-membership.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804101706/https://www.kyivpost.com/world/poll-over-70-moldovans-favor-eu-membership.html |archive-date=4 August 2021 |access-date=2022-06-19 |publisher=[[Kyiv Post]]}}</ref>

On 30 November 2022, Popescu stated that Moldova would suspend its participation in CIS meetings,<ref name=":1">{{cite web |title=Ministrul de Externe: Republica Moldova și-a SUSPENDAT participarea la reuniunile periodice ale CSI |date=30 November 2022 |url=https://n4.md/ministrul-de-externe-republica-moldova-si-a-suspendat-participarea-la-reuniunile-periodice-ale-csi/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130105528/https://n4.md/ministrul-de-externe-republica-moldova-si-a-suspendat-participarea-la-reuniunile-periodice-ale-csi/ |archive-date=30 November 2022 |access-date=30 November 2022}}</ref> and on 23 February 2023 stated that Moldova had started withdrawing from multiple treaties that the country had signed with the CIS, as his country aimed to join the European Union.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Молдова виходить із десятків договорів у рамках СНД |url=https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-world/3673897-moldova-vihodit-iz-desatkiv-dogovoriv-u-ramkah-snd.html |access-date=2023-03-09 |website=www.ukrinform.ua |date=23 February 2023 |language=uk}}</ref> On 15 May 2023, the President of the [[Parliament of Moldova]], [[Igor Grosu]], stated the country would withdraw from the agreement establishing the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly; he argued that being in the CIS "did not protect the Republic of Moldova from [[energy blackmail]] in the middle of winter, from threats and official statements hostile to the independence and sovereignty of the Republic of Moldova".<ref name=":4">{{cite web |last1=Fetco |first1=Verônica |title=R. Moldova a inițiat procedura de retragere din Adunarea Interparlamentară a CSI, anunță președintele Parlamentului |url=https://www.zdg.md/stiri/politic/ultima-ora-r-moldova-a-initiat-procedura-de-retragere-din-adunarea-interparlamentara-a-csi-anunta-presedintele-parlamentului/ |website=Ziarul de Gardă |access-date=15 May 2023 |language=ro |date=15 May 2023}}</ref>

As part of the process of severing connections with the CIS, in July 2023 Moldova passed a law denouncing the agreement on Moldova's membership in the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the CIS countries.<ref>{{cite web |title=Parliament Adopts in Final Reading Law on Moldova's Withdrawal from Cis Interparliamentary Assembly |url=https://www.infotag.md/politics-en/309245/ |date=20 July 2023}}</ref> 70 agreements were denounced by October 2023, from the total of around 282 signed by Moldova.<ref>{{cite web |title=Moldovan Authorities Denounce Another Seven CIS Agreements |url=https://regtrends.com/en/2023/11/22/moldovan-authorities-denounce-another-seven-cis-agreements/ |date=22 November 2023}}</ref>

In December 2023, Moldova announced its intention to withdraw from the CIS entirely by the end of 2024.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ankasam.org/moldova-onumuzdeki-yilin-sonunda-bdtden-ayrilacak/ | title=Moldova, önümüzdeki yılın sonunda BDT'den ayrılacak | date=21 December 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.kyivpost.com/post/25790 | title=Moldova Plans to Fully Withdraw from Moscow-led Bloc by 2024 | date=21 December 2023 }}</ref> It was later stated that Moldova would pull out of everything except for economic, social protection, and healthcare agreements.<ref name="ESPHA" />

A 22–27 May 2024 poll showed that 40.5% of Moldovans were in favour of leaving the CIS and 35.5% were against,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://radiochisinau.md/sondaj-procentul-cetatenilor-republicii-moldova-care-iti-doresc-aderarea-la-ue-se-apropie-de-60prc-creste-numarul-celor-care-doresc-iesirea-r-moldova-din-csi---197089.html|title=SONDAJ {{!}} Procentul cetățenilor Republicii Moldova care doresc aderarea la UE este de aproape 60%. Crește numărul celor care vor ieșirea R. Moldova din CSI|publisher=[[Radio Chișinău]]|date=29 May 2024|language=ro}}</ref> with 41.9% in favour and 32% against in a 16–28 April 2025 poll.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://stiri.md/article/social/sondaj-majoritatea-cetatenilor-sunt-pentru-integrarea-moldovei-in-ue-3/|title=Sondaj: Majoritatea cetățenilor sunt pentru integrarea Moldovei în UE|newspaper=Știri.md|date=30 April 2025|language=ro}}</ref>

===Associate member===
A country can become an associate member under the CIS Charter (sec. 2, art. 8) if approved by the Council of Heads of States. Participation of associate members and of the observers in the work of the Commonwealth organs shall be governed by their rules of procedures.<ref name="tre38"/>

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"; width=100%
|-
! scope="col" | Country<ref name="depositary" /><ref name="depositary-protocol"/>
! scope="col" | Signed
! scope="col" | Agreement ratified
! scope="col" | Charter ratified<ref name="depositary-charter"/>
! scope="col" | Associate from
! scope="col" | Notes
|-
! scope="row" | {{flag|Turkmenistan}}
| {{dts|21 December 1991}}
| {{dts|26 December 1991}}
| Not ratified
| August 2005
| Founding state. Signatory of the Alma-Ata Protocol. Has never been a full member.
|}
Two states, Ukraine and Turkmenistan ratified the CIS Creation Agreement before the adoption of the CIS Charter in January 1993, making them "founding states of the CIS", but did not ratify the Charter itself that would make them full members. These states, while not being formal members of the CIS, were allowed to participate in CIS.<ref name="vestnikkavkaza.net">{{cite web |title=Ukraine's withdrawal from CIS to take one year – Vestnik Kavkaza |url=http://vestnikkavkaza.net/news/Ukraine-s-withdrawal-from-CIS-to-take-one-year.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813004418/http://vestnikkavkaza.net/news/Ukraine-s-withdrawal-from-CIS-to-take-one-year.html |archive-date=13 August 2018 |access-date=12 August 2018 |website=vestnikkavkaza.net}}</ref> They were also allowed to participate in various CIS initiatives, e.g. the Free Trade Area,<ref>{{cite web |title=Free Trade Agreement Between Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic |url=http://www.worldtradelaw.net/document.php?id=fta/agreements/cisfta.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330113646/http://www.worldtradelaw.net/document.php?id=fta%2Fagreements%2Fcisfta.pdf |archive-date=30 March 2019 |access-date=21 July 2018}}</ref> which were, however, formulated mostly as independent multilateral agreements, and not as internal CIS agreements.

Turkmenistan has not ratified the Charter and therefore is not formally a member of the CIS. Nevertheless, it has consistently participated in the CIS as if it were a member state.

Turkmenistan changed its CIS standing to associate member as of 26 August 2005. The cited reason was to be consistent with its 1995-proclaimed, UN-recognised, international neutrality status, but experts have cited the country no longer needing Russia to provide natural gas access, as well as the country's declining faith in the confederation's ability to maintain internal stability in light of the [[Colour Revolution]]s.<ref name="turkru">[http://www.cis.minsk.by/main.aspx?uid=4018 Decision on Turkmenistan's associate membership]{{dead link|date=August 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}, CIS Executive Committee meeting in Kazan, Russia, 26 August 2005 {{in lang|ru}}.</ref><ref name="turken">[http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1061002.html Turkmenistan reduces CIS ties to "Associate Member"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211095248/http://www.rferl.org/content/Article/1061002.html|date=11 December 2008}}, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 29 August 2005.</ref>

===Founding state===
The [[Verkhovna Rada]] never ratified the agreement on membership of the CIS in accordance with the [[CIS Charter]] so Ukraine never became a member.<ref name=":2">{{cite web |title=Історія членства України в Співдружності Незалежних Держав |url=https://minjust.gov.ua/m/str_55 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709001840/https://minjust.gov.ua/m/str_55 |archive-date=9 July 2022 |access-date=2022-07-09 |website=minjust.gov.ua |language=ru}}</ref>

Ukraine did not apply to become an Associate member, nor was it granted by the Council of Heads of States, accordingly Ukraine remained just a Founding state.

Ukraine did participate in the CIS and became an associate member of the CIS Economic Union in 1994,<ref name="auto">{{cite book |last1=d'Anieri |first1=Paul J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0IMaWuaYRnQC&q=associate |title=Economic Interdependence in Ukrainian-Russian Relations |date=July 1999 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=9780791442463 |access-date=25 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230527235646/https://books.google.de/books?id=0IMaWuaYRnQC&q=associate#v=snippet&q=associate&f=false |archive-date=27 May 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> and signed the [[Commonwealth of Independent States Free Trade Area]] in 2011.

Ukraine withdrew its representatives from the CIS in May 2018 and stopped actively participating in the CIS. However, the country remained a party to a number of agreements, such as the free trade area.

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"; width=100%
|-
! scope="col" | Country<ref name="depositary" /><ref name="depositary-protocol"/>
! scope="col" | Signed
! scope="col" | {{nowrap|Agreement ratified}}
! scope="col" | {{nowrap|Charter ratified}}<ref name="depositary-charter"/>
! scope="col" | Notes
|-
! scope="row" | {{nowrap|{{flag|Ukraine}}}}
| {{dts|8 December 1991}}
| {{dts|10 December 1991}}
| Not ratified
| Founding state. Signatory of both the Belovezha Accords and the Alma-Ata Protocol.  Has never been a full member.
* Largely ceased to participate from 2014 onwards
* Withdrew its representatives in May 2018<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/ukraine-withdraws-envoys-cis-bodies.html|title=Ukraine withdraws all envoys from CIS bodies|last1=Ponomarenko|first1=Illia|author-link=Illia Ponomarenko |date=19 May 2018|website=Kyiv Post|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180520110621/https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/ukraine-withdraws-envoys-cis-bodies.html|archive-date=20 May 2018|access-date=20 May 2018}}</ref>
* Denounced various CIS treaties as of 2024
* Has not formally withdrawn from the Creation Agreement, thus it continues to be recognized as a founder.
|-
|}
[[File:CIS Summit 20-22 June 2000-5.jpg|thumb|Representatives of Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and other states at the 20–22 June 2000 CIS Summit in Moscow]]

Although Ukraine was one of the states that ratified the Creation Agreement in December 1991, making it a Founding State of the CIS, it chose not to ratify the CIS Charter<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sussex |first1=Matthew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O-v2Uhprr7cC&q=Ukraine+did+not+choose+to+ratify+the+CIS+Charter&pg=PA44 |title=Conflict in the Former USSR |date=4 October 2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521763103 |access-date=25 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124214119/https://books.google.com/books?id=O-v2Uhprr7cC&pg=PA44 |archive-date=24 January 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=to6U__f00b8C&pg=PA16 |title=Russia and Nis Mineral Industry Handbook |date=7 February 2007 |publisher=International Business Publications, USA |isbn=9781433041181 |access-date=25 September 2014}}{{Dead link|date=January 2023|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> as it disagrees with Russia being the only legal [[successor state]] to the Soviet Union. Thus, it has never been a full member of the CIS.<ref name="ratification" /><ref>[http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-268085.html September 2008 Statement by Foreign Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Ohryzko] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080928112112/http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-268085.html|date=28 September 2008}}, "Ukraine does not recognize the legal personality of this organization, we are not members of the CIS Economic Court, we did not ratify the CIS Statute, thus, we cannot be considered a member of this organisation from an international legal point of view. Ukraine is a country-participant, but not a member country."</ref> However, Ukraine had kept participating in the CIS, with the consent of the Council of Heads of States, even though it was not a member. Ukraine has never applied for, or been granted, Associate member status.

Following the start of the [[Russo-Ukrainian War|Russo-Ukrainian war]] in February 2014, relations between Ukraine and Russia deteriorated, leading Ukraine to consider ending its participation in the CIS.  As Ukraine never ratified the Charter, it could cease its informal participation in the CIS. However, to fully terminate its relationship with the CIS, it would need to legally withdraw from the Creation Agreement, as Georgia did previously. On 14 March 2014, a bill was introduced to Ukraine's parliament to denounce their ratification of the CIS Creation Agreement, but it was never approved.<ref>{{cite web |date=15 March 2014 |title=Bill introduced to withdraw Ukraine from CIS |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/politics/bill-introduced-to-withdraw-ukraine-from-cis-339433.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327052438/http://www.kyivpost.com/content/politics/bill-introduced-to-withdraw-ukraine-from-cis-339433.html |archive-date=27 March 2014 |access-date=27 March 2014 |newspaper=[[Kyiv Post]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Результати пошуку законопроектiв, зареєстрованих Верховною Радою України |url=http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb2/webproc2_5_1_J?ses=10008&num_s=2&num=0074&date1=&date2=&name_zp=&out_type=&id= |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304191524/http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb2/webproc2_5_1_J?ses=10008&num_s=2&num=0074&date1=&date2=&name_zp=&out_type=&id= |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=25 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=27 May 2014 |title=Draft documents on Ukraine's withdrawal from CIS submitted to Verkhovna Rada |url=http://en.itar-tass.com/world/733566 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714232744/http://en.itar-tass.com/world/733566 |archive-date=14 July 2014 |access-date=21 June 2014 |publisher=[[Information Telegraph Agency of Russia]]}}</ref>  Following the [[2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election|2014 parliamentary election]], a new bill to denounce the CIS agreement was introduced.<ref>{{cite web |title=Проект Постанови про припинення членства та участі України в органах Співдружності Незалежних Держав |url=http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb2/webproc4_1?pf3511=52424 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141211134742/http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb2/webproc4_1?pf3511=52424 |archive-date=11 December 2014 |access-date=30 November 2014 |publisher=[[Verkhovna Rada]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Проект Закону про зупинення дії Угоди про створення Співдружності Незалежних Держав |url=http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb2/webproc4_1?pf3511=52644 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429230846/http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb2/webproc4_1?pf3511=52644 |archive-date=29 April 2015 |access-date=26 December 2014 |publisher=[[Verkhovna Rada]]}}</ref>  In September 2015, the [[Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] confirmed Ukraine would continue participating in the CIS "on a selective basis."<ref name="ultb">[http://m.eng.belta.by/politics/view/ukraine-to-selectively-work-as-part-of-cis-25-2015 Ukraine to selectively work as part of CIS] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128035608/http://m.eng.belta.by/politics/view/ukraine-to-selectively-work-as-part-of-cis-25-2015|date=28 January 2016}}, [[BelTA]] (21 September 2015)</ref><ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/yatsenyuk-says-ukraine-will-drop-commonwealth-of-independent-states-criminal-search-database-system-on-aug-24-396167.html "Yatsenyuk says Ukraine will drop Commonwealth of Independent States criminal search database system on Aug 24"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918183557/http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/yatsenyuk-says-ukraine-will-drop-commonwealth-of-independent-states-criminal-search-database-system-on-aug-24-396167.html|date=18 September 2015}}, [[Kyiv Post]] (20 August 2015)</ref> Since that month, Ukraine has had no representatives in the CIS Executive Committee building.<ref name="ultb" />

In April 2018, Ukrainian President [[Petro Poroshenko]] indicated that Ukraine would formally leave the CIS.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ukraine to officially quit CIS – Poroshenko |date=12 April 2018 |url=https://www.unian.info/politics/10078742-ukraine-to-officially-quit-cis-poroshenko.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413124653/https://www.unian.info/politics/10078742-ukraine-to-officially-quit-cis-poroshenko.html |archive-date=13 April 2018 |access-date=12 April 2018 |publisher=[[UNIAN]]}}</ref> On 19 May 2018, Poroshenko signed a decree formally ending Ukraine's participation in CIS statutory bodies.<ref name="UAPart">{{Cite news |title=Poroshenko signs decree on final termination of Ukraine's participation in CIS statutory bodies |language=en |url=https://www.unian.info/m/politics/10123172-poroshenko-signs-decree-on-final-termination-of-ukraine-s-participation-in-cis-statutory-bodies.html |url-status=live |access-date=19 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124214148/https://gum.criteo.com/syncframe?origin=publishertag&topUrl=www.unian.info&gdpr=0&gdpr_consent= |archive-date=24 January 2023}}</ref>

As of 1 June 2018, the CIS secretariat had not received a formal notice from Ukraine of its withdrawal from the CIS, a process that would take one year to complete, following notice being given.<ref name="vestnikkavkaza.net" /> The CIS secretariat stated that it will continue inviting Ukraine to participate.<ref>{{cite web |date=1 June 2018 |title=CIS Executive Secretary hopes Ukraine will remain member nation of the CIS |url=https://news.tj/ru/node/255314 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721221817/https://news.tj/ru/node/255314 |archive-date=21 July 2018 |access-date=21 July 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2 June 2018 |title=Kyrgyz envoy: CIS to consider Ukraine's withdrawal as soon as Kyiv files official application |url=https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/kyrgyz-envoy-cis-to-consider-ukraines-withdrawal-as-soon-as-kyiv-files-official-application.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109030041/https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/kyrgyz-envoy-cis-to-consider-ukraines-withdrawal-as-soon-as-kyiv-files-official-application.html |archive-date=9 November 2020 |access-date=21 July 2018 |publisher=[[Interfax-Ukraine]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=11 October 2018 |title=Executive Committee Chairman: CIS states interested in keeping Ukraine as member |url=https://azertag.az/en/xeber/Executive_Committee_Chairman_CIS_states_interested_in_keeping_Ukraine_as_member-1203265 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419181054/https://azertag.az/en/xeber/Executive_Committee_Chairman_CIS_states_interested_in_keeping_Ukraine_as_member-1203265 |archive-date=19 April 2019 |access-date=8 December 2018}}</ref> Ukraine has stated that it intends to review its participation in all CIS agreements and only continue in those that are in its interests. On 3 May 2023, Ukraine formally withdrew from the 1992 agreement that set up the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ukraine's parliament withdraws from agreement on CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly |url=https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-polytics/3704140-ukraines-parliament-withdraws-from-agreement-on-cis-interparliamentary-assembly.html |date=3 May 2023}}</ref> In 2023 and 2024 Ukraine also withdrew from several agreements, including the 2001 ''Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) agreement on cooperation in the provision of safety of hazardous industrial facilities'', the 1996 ''CIS agreement on cooperation in evacuating nationals from third countries in emergencies'', the 1992 ''Agreement between the State Parties of the Commonwealth of Independent States on social and legal guarantees of the military personnel, persons discharged from military service, and members of their families'', the 1992 ''Agreement on the Establishment of the Council of Commanders of the Border Troops'' and the ''Agreement on the Creation of the Interstate System of Documentary Encrypted Communications of the Commonwealth of Independent States''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ukraine continues to denounce CIS agreements |url=https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/97575/ |date=13 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Ukraine pulls out of CIS deal on cooperation between border troops chiefs |url=https://en.lb.ua/news/2024/01/02/25432_ukraine_pulls_out_cis_deal.html |date=2 January 2024}}</ref>

===Former member states===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"; width=100%
|-
! scope="col" | Country<ref name="depositary" /><ref name="depositary-protocol"/>
! scope="col" | Signed
! scope="col" | {{nowrap|Agreement ratified}}
! scope="col" | {{nowrap|Charter ratified}}<ref name="depositary-charter"/>

! scope="col" | Withdrawn
! scope="col" | Effective
! scope="col" | Notes
|-
! scope="row" | {{flag|Georgia}}
| {{dts|3 December 1993}}
| {{dts|3 December 1993}}
| {{dts|19 April 1994}}
| {{dts|18 August 2008}}
| {{dts|18 August 2009}}
| Withdrew as a result of the [[Russo-Georgian War]] of 2008.
|}
Following the overthrow of [[Eduard Shevardnadze]] in Georgia, Georgia officially withdrew from the Council of Defense Ministers in February 2006,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://english.pravda.ru/news/world/75406-georgia/|title=Georgia opts out of ex-Soviet military cooperation body|first=Editorial|last=Team|date=3 February 2006|website=PravdaReport}}</ref> stating that "Georgia has taken a course to join NATO and it cannot be part of two military structures simultaneously".<ref name="auto4" />  However, it remained a full member of the CIS.

In the aftermath of the [[Russo-Georgian War]] in 2008, President [[Saakashvili]] announced during a public speech in the capital, [[Tbilisi]], that Georgia would leave the CIS<ref name="CNN">[http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08/12/georgia.russia.out/index.html Georgia intends to leave the CIS] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080813021111/http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08/12/georgia.russia.out/index.html|date=2008-08-13}} on CNN.com, 12 August 2008.</ref> and the Georgian Parliament voted unanimously on 14 August 2008 to withdraw from the regional organisation.<ref name="BBC">[https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7560100.stm Georgian parliament votes to withdraw from CIS] on BBC News, 14 August 2008</ref> On 18 August 2008, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia sent a note to the CIS Executive Committee notifying it of the aforesaid resolutions of the Parliament of Georgia and Georgia's withdrawal from CIS.<ref name="georgia">[http://www.mfa.gov.ge/index.php?lang_id=ENG&sec_id=36&info_id=7526 Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia on Georgia's withdrawal from CIS] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080903225356/http://www.mfa.gov.ge/index.php?lang_id=ENG&sec_id=36&info_id=7526|date=2008-09-03}}, 18 August 2008.</ref> In accordance with the CIS Charter (sec. 1, art. 9),<ref name="charter2">{{usurped|1=[http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20060720174729/http://www.therussiasite.org/legal/laws/CIScharter.html CIS Charter]}}, 22 January 1993 ('''unofficial English translation'''). [http://www.cis.minsk.by/main.aspx?uid=180 '''Russian''' text here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207080225/http://www.cis.minsk.by/main.aspx?uid=180|date=2009-02-07}}</ref> Georgia's withdrawal came into effect 12 months later, on 18 August 2009.<ref>[http://www.mid.ru/brp_4.nsf/e78a48070f128a7b43256999005bcbb3/f8239318a64b3edac32574de00287b06?OpenDocument Georgia's CIS membership terminates in August 2009], press conference of the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after the meeting of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers, Bishkek, 9 October 2008</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/world/europe/19briefs-Georgia.html "Georgia Withdraws from Bloc", by Ellen Barry, ''New York Times'', 18 August 2009. Retrieved on 22 August 2009.]</ref>

==Politics==
[[File:CIS meeting 2008.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Meeting of CIS leaders in [[Bishkek]], 2008]]

===Human rights===
Since its inception, one of the primary goals of the CIS has been to provide a forum for discussing issues related to the social and economic development of the newly independent states. To achieve this goal, member states have agreed to promote and protect human rights. Initially, efforts to achieve this goal consisted merely of statements of goodwill, but on 26 May 1995, the CIS adopted a Commonwealth of Independent States Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/type,MULTILATERALTREATY,CIS,RUS,49997ae32c,0.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130416040647/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/type,MULTILATERALTREATY,CIS,RUS,49997ae32c,0.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 April 2013|title=Commonwealth of Independent States Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms|year=1995|access-date=24 March 2013}}</ref>

In 1991, four years before the 1995 human rights [[treaty]], Article 33 of the Charter of the CIS created a Human Rights Commission with its seat in Minsk, Belarus. This was confirmed by the decision of the Council of Heads of States of the CIS in 1993. In 1995, the CIS adopted a human rights treaty that includes civil and political as well as social and economic human rights. This treaty entered into force in 1998. The CIS treaty is modeled on the [[European Convention on Human Rights]], but lacks the strong implementation mechanisms of the latter. Furthermore, in the CIS treaty, the Human Rights Commission has a very vaguely defined authority. The Statute of the Human Rights Commission, however, also adopted by the CIS Member States as a decision, gives the commission the right to receive inter-state as well as individual communications.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}}

CIS members, especially in [[Central Asia]], continue to have among the world's poorest human rights records. Many activists point to examples such as the 2005 [[Andijan massacre]] in Uzbekistan to show that there has been 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 the modest progress of previous years in Russia. In turn, this has led to little to no scrutiny by Russia when it comes to the situation of human rights in other CIS member states. The Commonwealth of Independent States continues to face serious challenges in meeting even basic international standards.<ref>[http://www.freedomhouse.org/article/democracy-deficit-grows-former-soviet-union "Democracy Deficit Grows in Former Soviet Union"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222202922/http://www.freedomhouse.org/article/democracy-deficit-grows-former-soviet-union |date=22 February 2014 }} 2011. date retrieved 12 February 2014</ref>

===Military===
{{Main|Collective Security Treaty Organization|United Armed Forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States|Council of Ministers of Defense of the CIS|Joint CIS Air Defense System}}
[[File:The Council of CIS Defense Ministers.jpg|thumb|The members of the Council of Ministers of Defense meeting in Moscow in 2017]]
The CIS Charter establishes the [[Council of Ministers of Defense of the CIS|Council of Ministers of Defence]], which is vested with the task of coordinating military cooperation of the CIS member states that wish to participate.

In May 1992, six post-Soviet states belonging to the CIS signed the Collective Security Treaty (also referred to as the Tashkent Pact or Tashkent Treaty).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Legvold |first1=Robert |last2=Arbatov |first2=Alexei |last3=Kaiser |first3=Karl |date=2000 |title=Russia and the West: The 21st Century Security Environment (Eurasia in the 21st Century, Vol. I) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20049696 |journal=Foreign Affairs |language=en |volume=79 |issue=2 |pages=62 |doi=10.2307/20049696|jstor=20049696 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Three other post-Soviet states signed in 1993 and the treaty took effect in 1994 and lasted 5 years. When the treaty was subsequently renewed, three countries withdrew, leaving Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan as members.

In December 1993, the CIS Armed Forces Headquarters was abolished.<ref>Interfax, 22 December 1993, via Zbigniew Brzezinski, Paige Sullivan, 'Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States' CSIS, 1997, p.464 via [[Google Books]]</ref> Instead, "the CIS Council of Defence Ministers created a CIS Military Cooperation Coordination Headquarters (MCCH) in Moscow, with 50 percent of the funding provided by Russia."<ref>SIPRI 1998 Annual, p.18</ref> General [[Viktor Samsonov]] was appointed as Chief of Staff. The headquarters has now moved to 101000, Москва (Moscow), Сверчков переулок, 3/2.

An important manifestation of integration processes in the area of military and defence collaboration of the CIS member states is the creation, in 1995, of the [[joint CIS Air Defense System]]. Over the years, the military personnel of the joint CIS Air Defense System grew twofold along the western, European border of the CIS, and by 1.5 times on its southern borders.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cis.minsk.by/page.php?id=200 |title=Информация о Совете министров обороны государств – участников Содружества Независимых Государств |publisher=Cis.minsk.by |access-date=23 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923203754/http://www.cis.minsk.by/page.php?id=200 |archive-date=23 September 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2002, the six member states agreed to create the ''Collective Security Treaty Organisation'' (CSTO) as a military alliance.<ref name=":5">{{cite web|url=https://odkb-csto.org/25years/|title=From Treaty to Organization |archive-date=5 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805173941/https://www.odkb-csto.org/25years/|url-status=live |access-date=12 January 2022}}</ref>

In 2007, CSTO members agreed to create a CSTO peacekeeping force.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}

One of the CST's original objectives was to resolve conflicts between CIS members, however military conflicts such as Russia's open assistance and support to the two secessionist areas in Georgia, Russia seizing Crimea and support to secessionist areas in Ukraine, the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan border issues have demonstrated how ineffective the CST and later the CSTO, is in this role.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Collective Security Treaty Organization:A Brief Overview |url=https://ifsh.de/file-CORE/documents/yearbook/english/10/Bordyuzha-en.pdf |date=2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=How to intervene symbolically: The CSTO in Kazakhstan |url=https://www.chathamhouse.org/2023/06/how-intervene-symbolically-csto-kazakhstan |date=27 June 2023}}</ref>

==Economy==
{{see also|Economy of the Soviet Union}}

Corruption and bureaucracy are serious problems for trade in CIS countries.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.utoronto.ca/jacyk/files/KuzioCorruptionCIS.pdf|title=Petro Jacyk Program – Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Toronto|access-date=25 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211004436/http://www.utoronto.ca/jacyk/files/KuzioCorruptionCIS.pdf|archive-date=11 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed that CIS members take up a digitisation agenda to modernise CIS economies.<ref name="cisdigi">{{cite news|title=Nazarbayev proposes CIS modernisation, meets EUAU counterparts in Sochi|url=https://www.astanacalling.com/nazarbayev-proposes-cis-modernisation-meets-euau-counterparts-sochi/|publisher=Astana Calling|access-date=14 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014183953/https://www.astanacalling.com/nazarbayev-proposes-cis-modernisation-meets-euau-counterparts-sochi/|archive-date=14 October 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

'''Economic data'''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?name_desc=false|title=GDP per capita (current US$) &#124; Data|website=data.worldbank.org|access-date=27 August 2020|archive-date=10 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810032047/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?name_desc=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align: right;"
|-
! rowspan="2" scope="col" | Country
! rowspan="2" | Population ({{UN Population|year}})
! colspan="3" | GDP (USD million)
! rowspan="2" scope="col" | GDP growth<br />(2012)
! colspan="4" scope="col" | GDP per capita
! rowspan="2" scope="col" | Human Development<br />Index (2019)
|-
! scope="col" | 2007
! scope="col" | 2012
! scope="col" | 2022
! scope="col" | 2007
! scope="col" | 2012
! scope="col" | 2020
! scope="col" | 2022
|-
| scope="row" | Armenia
| {{UN Population|Armenia}}
| 9,204
| 10,551
| 13,679
| 2.1%
| 2,996
| 3,500
| 4,268
| 4,888
| 0.776
|-
| scope="row" | Azerbaijan
| {{UN Population|Azerbaijan}}
| 33,049
| 71,043
| 76,123
| 3.8%
| 3,829
| 7,500
| 4,214
| 4,665
| 0.756
|-
| scope="row" | Belarus
| {{UN Population|Belarus}}
| 45,275
| 65,685
| 78,276
| 4.3%
| 4,656
| 6,940
| 6,411
| 6,830
| 0.823
|-
| scope="row" | Kazakhstan
| {{UN Population|Kazakhstan}}
| 104,849
| 196,642
| 210,896
| 5.2%
| 6,805
| 11,700
| 9,122
| 10,240
| 0.825
|-
| scope="row" | Kyrgyzstan
| {{UN Population|Kyrgyzstan}}
| 3,802
| 6,197
| 7,543
| 0.8%
| 711
| 1,100
| 1,174
| 1,265
| 0.697
|-
| scope="row" | Moldova
| {{UN Population|Republic of Moldova}}
| 4,401
| 7,589
| 8,947
| 4.4%
| 1,200
| 2,100
| 4,551
| 4,850
| 0.750
|-
| scope="row" | Russia
| {{UN Population|Russian Federation}}
| 1,294,381
| 2,022,000
| 2,103,400
| 3.4%
| 9,119
| 14,240
| 10,127
| 10,890
| 0.824
|-
| scope="row" | Tajikistan
| {{UN Population|Tajikistan}}
| 3,695
| 7,263
| 8,456
| 2.1%
| 526
| 960
| 859
| 915
| 0.668
|-
| scope="row" | Uzbekistan
| {{UN Population|Uzbekistan}}
| 22,355
| 63,622
| 70,452
| 4.1%
| 831
| 2,137
| 1,686
| 1,820
| 0.720
|}

===Standards and rules===
{{main|GOST|List of GOST standards}}

GOST standards were originally developed by the government of the Soviet Union as part of its national standardisation strategy. After the disintegration of the USSR, the GOST standards acquired a new status of the regional standards. They are now administered by the Euro-Asian Council for Standardization, Metrology, and Certification (EASC), a standards organisation chartered by the Commonwealth of Independent States.

===Supranational integration initiatives, trade, and economic cooperation within CIS===
{{main|free trade agreement|free trade area}}

On 24 September 1993, an ''Agreement on the Economic Union'' was signed by the heads of a number of CIS states. Its aim was the forming of conditions of stable development of economies of Contracting Parties to benefit from increases in living standards of their population.<ref>{{cite web |title=Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) |url=https://new.cisstat.org/web/eng/cis |access-date=27 August 2023}}</ref> This led to other specific agreements.

The terms of the CIS FTA agreements allow member states to enter into the FTA agreements with other countries, as well as to join/create custom unions.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://carnegiemoscow.org/commentary/56074 | title=For Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia Free Trade with Europe and Russia is Possible }}</ref> Like other Commonwealth of Independent States agreements, this agreement does not regulate relations with third countries and allows [[differentiated integration]] (aka à la carte and [[multi-speed Europe]]).

====1994 Framework for Bilateral Free Trade Agreements and Freedom of Transit====
{{main|Commonwealth of Independent States Agreement on the Establishment of a Free Trade Area}}
[[File:CIS_Countries.PNG|thumb|1994 agreement signatories]]
On 15 April 1994, at a meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Council of Heads of State in Moscow, the presidents of 12 countries, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine signed an ''Agreement'' on the Establishment of a Free Trade Area (Соглашение о создании зоны свободной торговли).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldtradelaw.net/fta/agreements/cisfta.pdf |title=Free Trade Agreement Between Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, The Russian Federation, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan And The Kyrgyz Republic |access-date=23 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516081043/http://www.worldtradelaw.net/fta/agreements/cisfta.pdf |archive-date=16 May 2011 }}</ref> The Agreement entered into force on 30 December 1994 for those countries that had completed ratification. As of 2023, the Agreement is fully in force for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine, while Russia and Turkmenistan have notified the application of the Agreement on a provisional basis. According to the executive committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States, no one has ceased participation in the Agreement, made reservations or suspended the application.<ref name=FreeTradeAgreement>{{cite web | url=https://cis.minsk.by/reestrv2/doc/321#text | title=Единый реестр правовых актов и других документов Содружества Независимых Государств |trans-title=Agreement on the establishment of a free trade zone |publisher=Unified register of legal acts and other documents of the Commonwealth of Independent States}}</ref>

Bilateral FTAs concluded on the basis of CIS 1994 as a framework agreement.<ref name="auto2">{{cite web | url=https://www.macmap.org/en/resources/cis | title=Market Access Map }}</ref> According to the analytical material of the executive committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the 1994 version has not yet provided for multilateral free trade, but the conclusion of many bilateral agreements.<ref name="auto3">{{Cite web |date= |title=Соглашение о создании зоны свободной торговли |url=https://economy.gov.by/ru/soglashenie-ru/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004203601/https://economy.gov.by/ru/soglashenie-ru/ |archive-date=2023-10-04 |access-date= |website=economy.gov.by}}</ref> Under the 1994 version, the free trade regime enters into force when conditions are met, but, for example, the freedom of transit enters into force immediately between participants. According to the text, transit transportation should not be subject to unreasonable delays or restrictions, and the conditions of transit, including tariffs for transportation by any mode of transport and the provision of services, should not be worse than for domestic shippers, recipients, and owners of goods, as well as no worse than the conditions for any third country.<ref name=FreeTradeAgreement/>

====1999 Protocol introducing a multilateral free trade among ten countries====
On 2 April 1999, in Moscow, the presidents of 11 countries, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine signed a Protocol on Amendments and Additions to the Agreement on the Establishment of a Free Trade Area of 15 April 1994<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://findrulesoforigin.org/documents/pdf/itc00659_full.pdf|title=FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA, BELARUS, GEORGIA, MOLDOVA, KAZAKHSTAN, THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION, UKRAINE, UZBEKISTAN, TAJIKISTAN AND THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC}}</ref> (Протокол о внесении изменений и дополнений в Соглашение о создании зоны свободной торговли от 15 апреля 1994 года). Turkmenistan did not participate. The Protocol entered into force on 24 November 1999 for those countries that had completed ratification. As of 2023, the Protocol has entered into force for all countries, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine, except Russia, which remains a signatory but has not notified entry into force or provisional application. According to the executive committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States, no one has ceased participation in the Protocol or suspended the application, while one reservation was made by Azerbaijan on non-application in relation to Armenia and two specific opinions were expressed by Georgia and Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cis.minsk.by/reestrv2/doc/884#documentCard|title=Единый реестр правовых актов и других документов Содружества Независимых Государств|website=cis.minsk.by|access-date=6 September 2023}}</ref>

According to the analytical material of the executive committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the 1999 Protocol replaced the existing bilateral free trade regime with a multilateral regime, eliminated all fees, as well as taxes and levies with equivalent effect, and quantitative restrictions on the import and export of goods in mutual trade of the FTA participating states, established a procedure for dispute resolution, etc.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cis.minsk.by/page/18968 | title=Аналитический материал о Договоре о зоне свободной торговли (по состоянию на 31 октября 2011 г.) - Исполнительный комитет СНГ }}</ref> The 1999 version refers to the principles of the World Trade Organisation, envisages cooperation in economic policy, payments, customs cooperation, taxes, science, provides for a ratchet effect prohibiting the imposition of new tariffs and restrictions, provides for treatment no worse than that of any third country, and provides for the transit of goods on the basis of the principle of freedom of transit without discrimination.<ref name="auto3"/>

The 2011 CIS FTA Treaty envisages that the 1994 agreement and the 1999 protocol no longer apply among its eight participants (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Armenia, and Moldova), however, among the rest of the countries, they continue to be applied.

[[International Trade Centre]] says the 1994 Agreement on the Establishment of a Free Trade Area signed by 12 CIS countries still continues to be used by Azerbaijan and Georgia in trade with other CIS countries except with Russia and Turkmenistan. Reportedly it is also used bilaterally between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan pending Tajikistan's ratification of Uzbekistan's accession to the 2011 CIS Free Trade Area Treaty.<ref name="auto2"/>

====2011 multilateral Free Trade Area Treaty among 9 countries====
{{main|Commonwealth of Independent States Free Trade Area}}
[[File:Stamp of Russia 2011 No 1542.jpg|thumb|Stamp of 1991–2011, the Commonwealth of Independent States]]
[[File:CISFTA (orthographic projection).svg|thumb|2011 treaty signatories and parties]]
In 2009, a new agreement was begun to create an FTA, the CIS Free Trade Agreement (CISFTA).{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} In October 2011, the new free trade agreement was signed by eight of the eleven CIS prime ministers; Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, and Ukraine at a meeting in St. Petersburg. Initially, the treaty was only ratified by Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine,<ref name="auto5">[http://www.usubc.org/site/member-news/cis-free-trade-agreement-comes-into-force CIS Free Trade Agreement comes into force; Baker & McKenzi, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, 18 October 2012] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225050742/http://www.usubc.org/site/member-news/cis-free-trade-agreement-comes-into-force |date=25 February 2014 }}, 18 October 2011</ref><ref>[http://www.odessatalk.com/2014/09/russias-duma-ratifies-eurasian-economic-union/ Russia’s Duma ratifies Eurasian Economic Union] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622111443/http://www.odessatalk.com/2014/09/russias-duma-ratifies-eurasian-economic-union/ |date=22 June 2018 }}, odessatalk.com. Retrieved 22 June 2018.</ref> However, by the end of 2012, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Moldova had also completed ratification.<ref>[https://www.kaztag.kz/en/news/kazakhstan-ratified-agreement-on-free-trade-zone Kazakhstan ratified agreement on Free Trade zone] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622140506/https://www.kaztag.kz/en/news/kazakhstan-ratified-agreement-on-free-trade-zone |date=22 June 2018 }} www.kaztag.kz. Retrieved 22 June 2018.</ref><ref>[http://arka.am/en/news/economy/armenia_ratifies_cis_free_trade_zone_agreement/ Armenia ratifies CIS free trade zone agreement] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622140550/http://arka.am/en/news/economy/armenia_ratifies_cis_free_trade_zone_agreement/ |date=22 June 2018 }}, arka.am. Retrieved 22 June 2018.</ref> In December 2013, Uzbekistan, signed and then ratified the treaty,<ref>{{Cite web|date=28 December 2013|title=Uzbekistan Joins CIS Free-Trade Zone|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/uzbekistan-joins-cis-free-trade-zone/25215190.html|access-date=11 October 2021|website=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]]|archive-date=29 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029174027/https://www.rferl.org/a/uzbekistan-joins-cis-free-trade-zone/25215190.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://www.azernews.az/region/65752.html Uzbekistan joins CIS free trade zone] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401220004/http://www.azernews.az/region/65752.html |date=1 April 2016 }}, azernews.az. Retrieved 22 June 2018.</ref> while the remaining two signatories, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan later both ratified the treaty in January 2014 and December 2015 respectively.<ref>[http://vestnikkavkaza.net/news/Dushanbe-ratifies-agreement-on-CIS-free-trade-area.html Dushanbe ratifies agreement on CIS free trade area] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622140135/http://vestnikkavkaza.net/news/Dushanbe-ratifies-agreement-on-CIS-free-trade-area.html |date=22 June 2018 }}, Vestnik Kavkaza. Retrieved 22 June 2018.</ref><ref>[https://akipress.com/news:570508 Tajikistan ratifies CIS Free Trade Zone Agreement] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622140136/https://akipress.com/news:570508 |date=22 June 2018 }}, AKIpress. Retrieved 22 June 2018</ref> [[Azerbaijan]] is the only full CIS member state not to participate in the free trade area.

The free trade agreement eliminates export and import duties on several goods but also contains a number of exemptions that will ultimately be phased out.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} An agreement was also signed on the basic principles of currency regulation and currency controls in the CIS at the same October 2011 meeting.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

====2023 Agreement on Free Trade in Services among 7 countries====
{{main|Trade in services|Commonwealth of Independent States Agreement on Free Trade in Services, Establishment, Operations and Investment}}

In Sochi on 8 June 2023, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan signed an Agreement on Free Trade in Services, Establishment, Operations, and Investment.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cis.minsk.by/reestrv2/doc/6738#documentCard | title=Единый реестр правовых актов и других документов Содружества Независимых Государств }}</ref>

== Social development of the CIS countries ==
Statistics show that, as of 2011, the CIS countries as a whole represent a zone of social disadvantage..<!-- The lowest level of social development is observed in [[Kyrgyzstan]]e and [[Tajikistan]]e, where 35 to 50% of the population have incomes below the [[subsistence level|subsistence level]], as well as in [[Moldova|Moldova]], [[Armenia|Armenia]] and on [[Ukraine|Ukraine]], in which about a quarter of the population have incomes below the subsistence level{--> It should be borne in mind that the subjective level of poverty, determined on the basis of sociological surveys, often turns out to be significantly higher than the official indicator: for example, the subjective level of poverty in Ukraine is 42%, and the official level is 28%; in Russia, the difference is even greater — 42% and 13%, respectively. %.<ref name="ЖНЭА2011-11-Соколова">{{Cite journal |author = Соколова Т. В. |editor=  |format= |url= http://www.econorus.org/repec/journl/2011-11-157-160r.pdf |title= Модернизация на постсоветском пространстве: социальный ракурс |type= журнал |orig-year= | agency =  |journal= Журнал Новой экономической ассоциации  |location= М. |year= 2011 |volume=  |number= 11|pages = 157–160 |series=  |issn = 2221-2264 |doi =  |bibcode =  |arxiv =  |pmid =  |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130603222112/http://www.econorus.org/repec/journl/2011-11-157-160r.pdf |archive-date = 2013-06-03 |language=  |quote=  }}</ref>

At the end of December 2015, unemployment benefits were received by 1% of registered unemployed in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, 5% in Azerbaijan, 8% in Moldova, 45% in Belarus, 81% in Ukraine and 85% in Russia. Its average amount was 262.3 manats ($201) in Azerbaijan, 216,424 white rubles ($12) in Belarus, 1,255.8 lei ($63) in Moldova, 306.9 somoni ($46) in Tajikistan (November 2015), and 1,444 hryvnia ($60) in Ukraine. The minimum unemployment benefit in Russia is set at 850 rubles (in December, $12), and the maximum is 4,900 rubles ($70). In a number of countries in the region, the allowance has not changed for many years with an increase in the cost of living.<ref name="autogenerated3">http://www.vkp.ru/docs/47/645.html {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116225328/http://www.vkp.ru/docs/47/645.html}} Всеобщая конфедерация профсоюзов. О социально-экономическом положении в независимых государствах, позиции и действиях профсоюзов в сложившейся ситуации (апрель 2016 года)</ref>

The average monthly salary in dollars in 2015 was $142 in Tajikistan, $193 in Ukraine, $206 in Kyrgyzstan, $245 in Moldova, $386 in Armenia, $413 in Belarus, $445 in Georgia (Q4 2015), $452 in Azerbaijan, $560 in Russia and  $565 in Kazakhstan. It still remains low, insufficient to ensure a full-fledged human life, and is actually completely "eaten up." In a number of countries, the majority of the population spends more than half of their salary on food (56% of the population in Kazakhstan, 61% in Russia, 72% in Belarus, 76% in Azerbaijan and Ukraine). With a low salary level, delays in its payment are increasing.:<ref name="autogenerated3" /><ref name="who2">{{cite web |date=2020 |title=Life expectancy and Healthy life expectancy, data by country |url=https://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.688 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130305150130/https://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.688 |archive-date=2013-03-05 |access-date=2022-03-19 |publisher=Всемирная организация здравоохранения |language=en}}</ref>

==Other activities==
===Election monitoring===
The CIS-Election Monitoring Organisation ({{langx|ru|Миссия наблюдателей от СНГ на выборах}}) is an [[election monitoring]] body that was formed in October 2002, following a Commonwealth of Independent States heads of states meeting which adopted the ''Convention on the Standards of Democratic Elections, Electoral Rights, and Freedoms in the Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States''. The CIS-EMO has been sending election observers to member countries of the CIS since this time.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

CIS election monitoring has been characterised by scholars as low-quality, as the CIS tends to validate elections that are obviously flawed.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bush |first1=Sarah Sunn |last2=Cottiero |first2=Christina |last3=Prather |first3=Lauren |date=2024 |title=Zombies ahead: Explaining the rise of low-quality election monitoring |journal=The Review of International Organizations |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=261–291 |language=en |doi=10.1007/s11558-024-09554-3 |issn=1559-744X|doi-access=free }}</ref>

'''Controversies'''

The election monitoring body has approved many elections which have been heavily criticised by independent observers.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/international/2012/03/03/how-to-steal-an-election |access-date=19 May 2012 |title=Election fraud: How to steal an election |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date=3 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120514212634/http://www.economist.com/node/21548933 |archive-date=14 May 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* The democratic nature of the final round of the [[2004 Ukrainian presidential election]] which followed the [[Orange Revolution]] and brought into power the former opposition, was questioned by the CIS while the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]] (OSCE) found no significant problems. This was the first time that the CIS observation teams challenged the validity of an election, saying that it should be considered illegitimate. On 15 March 2005, the [[Ukrainian Independent Information Agency]] quoted Dmytro Svystkov (a spokesman of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry) that Ukraine had suspended its participation in the CIS election monitoring organisation.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
* The CIS praised the Uzbekistan parliamentary elections, 2005 as "legitimate, free and transparent" while the OSCE had referred to the Uzbek elections as having fallen "significantly short of OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://enews.ferghana.ru/detail.php?id=85538093500.83,282,17595509 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710135748/http://enews.ferghana.ru/detail.php?id=85538093500.83,282,17595509 |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 July 2012 |title=Foreign observers differ in their evaluation of the election in Uzbekistan |publisher=Enews.ferghana.ru |access-date=23 July 2013 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.ln.mid.ru/brp_4.nsf/0/030111d3b474a94cc3256f790042f6f9?OpenDocument Alexander Yakovenko, the Spokesman of Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Answers a Russian Media Question Regarding International Observers' Conclusions on Election Results in Ukraine and Uzbekistan] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123213327/http://www.ln.mid.ru/brp_4.nsf/0/030111d3b474a94cc3256f790042f6f9?OpenDocument |date=23 January 2009 }}</ref>
* Moldovan authorities refused to invite CIS observers in the [[2005 Moldovan parliamentary elections]], an action Russia criticised. Many dozens of such observers from Belarus and Russia were stopped from reaching Moldova.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.azi.md/news?ID=33324|title=CIS Observers Outraged by Deportation of Colleagues|website=azi.md|access-date=27 December 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927180141/http://www.azi.md/news?ID=33324|archive-date=27 September 2007|url-status=live}}</ref>
* CIS observers monitored the Tajikistan parliamentary elections, in 2005 and in the end declared them "legal, free and transparent." The same elections were pronounced by the OSCE to have failed international standards for democratic elections.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
* Soon after CIS observers hailed the [[2005 Kyrgyz parliamentary elections|Kyrgyz parliamentary elections of 2005]] as "well-organized, free, and fair", as large-scale and often violent demonstrations broke out throughout the country protesting what the opposition called a rigged parliamentary election. In contrast, the OSCE reported that the elections fell short of international standards in many areas.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kupchinsky |first=Roman |url=http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/04/e791916d-4690-4835-9f2d-d230541270e6.html |title=CIS: Monitoring The Election Monitors |publisher=Rferl.org |access-date=23 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614003350/http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/04/e791916d-4690-4835-9f2d-d230541270e6.html |archive-date=14 June 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* International observers of the [[Interparliamentary Assembly]] stated the [[2010 Ukrainian local elections|2010 local elections in Ukraine]] were organised well.<ref name=Razumkov>[http://razumkov.org.ua/eng/expert.php?news_id=2417 EU will not condemn the local elections in Ukraine] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107115654/http://razumkov.org.ua/eng/expert.php?news_id=2417 |date=7 January 2017 }}, [[Razumkov Centre]] (3 November 2010)</ref> While the [[Council of Europe]] uncovered a number of problems in relation to a new electorate law approved just prior to the elections<ref name=Razumkov/> and the [[Obama administration]] criticised the conduct of the elections, saying they "did not meet standards for openness and fairness".<ref>[http://www.rferl.org/content/Interview_Top_US_Diplomat_Discusses_Regional_Developments_Abuses_Stalemates_And_Cooperation/2211838.html Interview: Top U.S. Diplomat Discusses Regional Developments, Abuses, Stalemates, And Cooperation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124030137/http://www.rferl.org/content/Interview_Top_US_Diplomat_Discusses_Regional_Developments_Abuses_Stalemates_And_Cooperation/2211838.html |date=24 November 2010 }}, [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]] (5 November 2010)</ref><ref>[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703506904575592431134922388 Ukraine's Ballot Flawed, U.S. Says] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310180442/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703506904575592431134922388 |date=10 March 2016 }}, [[The Wall Street Journal]] (4 November 2010)</ref>

===Russian language status===
Russia has urged that the [[Russian language]] receive official status in all of the CIS member states. So far Russian is an official language in only four states: Russia, [[Belarus]], [[Kazakhstan]], and [[Kyrgyzstan]]. Russian is also considered an official language in the region of [[Transnistria]] and the autonomous region of [[Gagauzia]] in [[Moldova]]. After the [[2010 Ukrainian presidential election|Ukrainian 2010 election]], President Yanukovych stated "Ukraine will continue to promote the [[Ukrainian language]] as its only state language."<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/61283/ Yanukovych: Ukraine will not have second state language] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605060236/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/61283/ |date=5 June 2011 }}, [[Kyiv Post]] (9 March 2010)</ref>

===Sports events===
At the time of the Soviet Union's dissolution in December 1991, [[:Category: National sports teams of the Soviet Union|its sports teams]] had been invited to or qualified for various 1992 sports events. A joint CIS team took its place in some of these. The "[[Unified Team at the Olympics|Unified Team]]" competed in the [[1992 Winter Olympics]] and [[1992 Summer Olympics]], and a [[CIS national football team|CIS association football team]] competed in [[UEFA Euro 1992]]. A [[Commonwealth of Independent States national bandy team|CIS bandy team]] played some friendlies in January 1992 and made its last appearance at the 1992 [[Russian Government Cup]], where it also played against the new [[Russia national bandy team]]. The [[list of Russian bandy champions|Soviet Union bandy championship]] for 1991–1992 was rebranded as a CIS championship, this lasted just one year before it became Russian bandy.

In 2017, a festival for national sports and games, known as the Festival of National Sports and Games of the Commonwealth of Independent States ({{langx|ru|Фестиваль национальных видов спорта и игр государств — участников Содружества Независимых Государств}}) was held in [[Ulyanovsk]]. The main sports were [[Sambo (martial art)|sambo]], [[tug of war]], [[mas-wrestling]], [[gorodki]], [[belt wrestling]], [[Lapta (game)|lapta]], [[rink bandy|bandy (rink)]], [[kettlebell lifting]], [[chess]] and [[archery]]. A few demonstration sports were also a part of the programme.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sportuln.ru/komandy-i-vidy-sporta|title=Виды спорта – I Фестиваль национальных видов спорта и игр государств – участников СНГ – Ульяновск 2017|website=sportuln.ru|access-date=30 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201041917/http://sportuln.ru/komandy-i-vidy-sporta|archive-date=1 December 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2021 the [[2021 CIS Games|first CIS games]] took place in Kazan with 9 nations and 2,000 athletes. The [[2023 CIS Games|second games]] took place in 2023 in Belarus.

===Cultural events===
The CIS has also been a relevant forum to support cultural relations between former Soviet republics. In 2006, the Council of the Heads of Governments of the CIS launched the Intergovernmental Foundation for Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Cooperation (IFESCCO).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mfgs-sng.org/eng/|title=IFESCCO|website=www.mfgs-sng.org|access-date=29 May 2020|archive-date=27 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627220319/http://www.mfgs-sng.org/eng/|url-status=dead}}</ref> IFESSCO has substantially relied on Russia's financial support since its creation and supported several multilateral cultural events, including the ‘CIS Capital of Culture’ initiative.<ref>{{cite web |last=Valenza |first=Domenico |url=https://ayape.EU/en-publication-36-Russias_Cultural_Diplomacy_in_the_South_Caucasus_Instruments_Assets_and_Challenges_Ahead.HTML |title=Russia's Cultural Diplomacy in the South Caucasus: Instruments, Assets and Challenges Ahead |publisher=Ayape.EU |access-date=29 May 2020 |archive-date=24 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224165807/https://ayape.eu/en-publication-36-Russias_Cultural_Diplomacy_in_the_South_Caucasus_Instruments_Assets_and_Challenges_Ahead.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2017, the Armenian city of [[Goris]] was declared the CIS Cultural Capital of the year, in 2022 it was [[Karakol]] in Kyrgyzstan.

==Demographics==

The combined population of all member states is 246,200,194 as of 2024.

{{Largest cities in Commonwealth of Independent States}}

==Life expectancy==
{{Update section|date=October 2024}}
[[Life expectancy at birth]] in the countries of CIS in 2021, according to the [[World Bank Group]] are listed below:<ref name='wbg_total'>{{cite web|title=Life expectancy at birth, total|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN|publisher=The World Bank Group|date=29 June 2023|access-date=6 July 2023}}</ref><ref name='wbg_male'>{{cite web|title=Life expectancy at birth, male|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.MA.IN|publisher=The World Bank Group|date=29 June 2023|access-date=6 July 2023}}</ref><ref name='wbg_female'>{{cite web|title=Life expectancy at birth, female|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.FE.IN|publisher=The World Bank Group|date=29 June 2023|access-date=6 July 2023}}</ref>

{{static row numbers}}{{sort under}}
{| class="wikitable sortable static-row-numbers sort-under" style="text-align:right;"
|- class="static-row-header" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:bottom;"
! rowspan=2 style="vertical-align:middle;"|Countries
! colspan=4|2021
! colspan=9 style="border-left-width:2px;"|Historical data
! colspan=2 style="border-left-width:2px;"|[[COVID-19]] impact
|- class="static-row-header" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:bottom;"
! style="vertical-align:middle;width:4em;"|All
! style="vertical-align:middle;"|Male
! style="vertical-align:middle;"|Female
! style="vertical-align:middle; width:3em;"|{{tooltip|Sex gap|Difference in life expectancy for female and male}}
! style="border-left-width:2px; vertical-align:middle; width:4em; padding-left:1em;"|2000
! style="text-align:left;"|{{tooltip|2000<br />→2014|Change of life expectancy from 2000 to 2014}}
! style="vertical-align:middle; width:3em;"|2014
! style="text-align:left;"|2014<br />→2019
! style="vertical-align:middle; width:3em;"|2019
! style="text-align:left;"|2019<br />→2020
! style="vertical-align:middle; width:3em;"|2020
! style="text-align:left;"|2020<br />→2021
! style="vertical-align:middle; width:3em;"|2021
! style="border-left-width:2px; text-align:left;"|{{tooltip|2019<br />→2021|Change of life expectancy from 2019 to 2021}}
! style="text-align:middle;"|2014<br />→2021
|-
|align=left|Belarus || style="text-align:center; background:#e0ffd8;" | 72.37 ||style="text-align:center; background:#eaf3ff;"| 67.30 ||style="text-align:center; background:#fee7f6;"| 77.70 ||style="text-align:center; background:#fff8dc;"| 10.40 ||style="text-align:center; border-left-width:2px; padding-left:1em;"| 68.91 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 4.06 ||style="text-align:center;"| 72.97 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 1.26 ||style="text-align:center;"| 74.23 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:crimson;"| −1.77 ||style="text-align:center;"| 72.46 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:crimson;"| −0.09 ||style="text-align:center; background:#e0ffd8;"| 72.37 ||style="background:#fffae0; border-left-width:2px; color:crimson;"| −1.86 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:crimson;"| −0.60
|-
|align=left|Armenia || style="text-align:center; background:#e0ffd8;" | 72.04 ||style="text-align:center; background:#eaf3ff;"| 66.55 ||style="text-align:center; background:#fee7f6;"| 77.35 ||style="text-align:center; background:#fff8dc;"| 10.80 ||style="text-align:center; border-left-width:2px; padding-left:1em;"| 70.62 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 3.43 ||style="text-align:center;"| 74.06 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 1.38 ||style="text-align:center;"| 75.44 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:crimson;"| −3.27 ||style="text-align:center;"| 72.17 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:crimson;"| −0.13 ||style="text-align:center; background:#e0ffd8;"| 72.04 ||style="background:#fffae0; border-left-width:2px; color:crimson;"| −3.40 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:crimson;"| −2.02
|-
|align=left|Kyrgyzstan || style="text-align:center; background:#e0ffd8;" | 71.90 ||style="text-align:center; background:#eaf3ff;"| 67.90 ||style="text-align:center; background:#fee7f6;"| 76.10 ||style="text-align:center; background:#fff8dc;"| 8.20 ||style="text-align:center; border-left-width:2px; padding-left:1em;"| 68.56 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 1.84 ||style="text-align:center;"| 70.40 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 1.20 ||style="text-align:center;"| 71.60 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 0.20 ||style="text-align:center;"| 71.80 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 0.10 ||style="text-align:center; background:#e0ffd8;"| 71.90 ||style="background:#fffae0; border-left-width:2px; color:darkgreen;"| 0.30 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 1.50
|-
|align=left|Tajikistan || style="text-align:center; background:#e0ffd8;" | 71.59 ||style="text-align:center; background:#eaf3ff;"| 69.57 ||style="text-align:center; background:#fee7f6;"| 73.73 ||style="text-align:center; background:#fff8dc;"| 4.17 ||style="text-align:center; border-left-width:2px; padding-left:1em;"| 63.26 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 5.81 ||style="text-align:center;"| 69.07 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 1.80 ||style="text-align:center;"| 70.87 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:crimson;"| −2.87 ||style="text-align:center;"| 67.99 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 3.60 ||style="text-align:center; background:#e0ffd8;"| 71.59 ||style="background:#fffae0; border-left-width:2px; color:darkgreen;"| 0.73 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 2.52
|-
|align=left|Uzbekistan || style="text-align:center; background:#e0ffd8;" | 70.86 ||style="text-align:center; background:#eaf3ff;"| 68.33 ||style="text-align:center; background:#fee7f6;"| 73.39 ||style="text-align:center; background:#fff8dc;"| 5.06 ||style="text-align:center; border-left-width:2px; padding-left:1em;"| 65.72 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 4.51 ||style="text-align:center;"| 70.23 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 1.11 ||style="text-align:center;"| 71.34 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:crimson;"| −1.01 ||style="text-align:center;"| 70.33 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 0.53 ||style="text-align:center; background:#e0ffd8;"| 70.86 ||style="background:#fffae0; border-left-width:2px; color:crimson;"| −0.48 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 0.63
|-
|align=left|Kazakhstan || style="text-align:center; background:#e0ffd8;" | 70.23 ||style="text-align:center; background:#eaf3ff;"| 66.33 ||style="text-align:center; background:#fee7f6;"| 74.03 ||style="text-align:center; background:#fff8dc;"| 7.70 ||style="text-align:center; border-left-width:2px; padding-left:1em;"| 65.45 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 5.99 ||style="text-align:center;"| 71.44 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 1.74 ||style="text-align:center;"| 73.18 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:crimson;"| −1.81 ||style="text-align:center;"| 71.37 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:crimson;"| −1.14 ||style="text-align:center; background:#e0ffd8;"| 70.23 ||style="background:#fffae0; border-left-width:2px; color:crimson;"| −2.95 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:crimson;"| −1.21
|-
|align=left|Azerbaijan || style="text-align:center; background:#e0ffd8;" | 69.37 ||style="text-align:center; background:#eaf3ff;"| 65.65 ||style="text-align:center; background:#fee7f6;"| 73.29 ||style="text-align:center; background:#fff8dc;"| 7.64 ||style="text-align:center; border-left-width:2px; padding-left:1em;"| 64.89 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 6.22 ||style="text-align:center;"| 71.12 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 1.99 ||style="text-align:center;"| 73.10 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:crimson;"| −6.23 ||style="text-align:center;"| 66.87 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 2.50 ||style="text-align:center; background:#e0ffd8;"| 69.37 ||style="background:#fffae0; border-left-width:2px; color:crimson;"| −3.74 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:crimson;"| −1.75
|-
|align=left|Russia || style="text-align:center; background:#e0ffd8;" | 69.36 ||style="text-align:center; background:#eaf3ff;"| 64.21 ||style="text-align:center; background:#fee7f6;"| 74.77 ||style="text-align:center; background:#fff8dc;"| 10.56 ||style="text-align:center; border-left-width:2px; padding-left:1em;"| 65.48 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 5.26 ||style="text-align:center;"| 70.74 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 2.34 ||style="text-align:center;"| 73.08 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:crimson;"| −1.75 ||style="text-align:center;"| 71.34 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:crimson;"| −1.98 ||style="text-align:center; background:#e0ffd8;"| 69.36 ||style="background:#fffae0; border-left-width:2px; color:crimson;"| −3.72 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:crimson;"| −1.38
|-
|align=left|Turkmenistan || style="text-align:center; background:#e0ffd8;" | 69.26 ||style="text-align:center; background:#eaf3ff;"| 65.86 ||style="text-align:center; background:#fee7f6;"| 72.66 ||style="text-align:center; background:#fff8dc;"| 6.80 ||style="text-align:center; border-left-width:2px; padding-left:1em;"| 65.03 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 3.59 ||style="text-align:center;"| 68.61 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 0.39 ||style="text-align:center;"| 69.00 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:crimson;"| −0.31 ||style="text-align:center;"| 68.69 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 0.58 ||style="text-align:center; background:#e0ffd8;"| 69.26 ||style="background:#fffae0; border-left-width:2px; color:darkgreen;"| 0.26 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 0.65
|-
|align=left|Moldova || style="text-align:center; background:#e0ffd8;" | 68.85 ||style="text-align:center; background:#eaf3ff;"| 64.44 ||style="text-align:center; background:#fee7f6;"| 73.55 ||style="text-align:center; background:#fff8dc;"| 9.10 ||style="text-align:center; border-left-width:2px; padding-left:1em;"| 66.42 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 2.61 ||style="text-align:center;"| 69.03 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:darkgreen;"| 1.90 ||style="text-align:center;"| 70.94 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:crimson;"| −0.77 ||style="text-align:center;"| 70.17 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:crimson;"| −1.32 ||style="text-align:center; background:#e0ffd8;"| 68.85 ||style="background:#fffae0; border-left-width:2px; color:crimson;"| −2.09 ||style="background:#fffae0; color:crimson;"| −0.19
|}

<gallery mode="packed" heights="130">
File:Life expectancy in countries of CIS.png|Life expectancy at birth in countries of CIS since 1960<ref name='wbg_total' />
File:Healthy life expectancy bar chart -CIS.png|Life expectancy and [[healthy life expectancy]] in countries of CIS in 2019<ref name="who">{{cite web|title=Life expectancy and Healthy life expectancy, data by country |language=en |publisher=World Health Organization |url=https://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.688 |date=4 December 2022}}</ref>
File:Healthy life expectancy bar chart -CIS -sex.png|Elaboration by gender<ref name="who" />
</gallery>

==Post-Soviet organisations and initiatives outside CIS framework==
{{main|Post-Soviet states}}
{{Supranational PostSoviet Bodies|size=500px|align=right}}

===EurAsEc and EAEU===
{{main|Eurasian Economic Community|Customs Union of the Eurasian Economic Union|EAEU}}

====Common Economic Space====
{{main|Eurasian Economic Space}}
After a discussion about the creation of a [[single market|common economic space]] between the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries of Russia, [[Ukraine]], [[Belarus]], and [[Kazakhstan]], agreement in principle about the creation of this space was announced after a meeting in the Moscow suburb of [[Novo-Ogarevo]] on 23 February 2003. The Common Economic Space would involve a [[Supranational union|supranational]] commission on trade and [[tariff]]s that would be based in [[Kyiv]], would initially be headed by a representative of [[Kazakhstan]], and would not be subordinate to the governments of the four nations. The ultimate goal would be a regional organisation that would be open for other countries to join as well, and could eventually lead even to a single currency.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

On 22 May 2003, the ''[[Verkhovna Rada]]'' (the Ukrainian Parliament) voted 266 votes in favour and 51 against the joint economic space. However, most believe that [[Viktor Yushchenko]]'s victory in the [[2004 Ukrainian presidential election|Ukrainian presidential election of 2004]] was a significant blow against the project: Yushchenko had shown renewed interest in Ukrainian membership in the European Union and such membership would be incompatible with the envisioned common economic space.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}} Yushchenko's successor [[Viktor Yanukovych]] stated on 27 April 2010: "Ukraine's entry into the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan is not possible today, since the economic principles and the laws of the [[WTO]] do not allow it, we develop our policy following WTO principles".<ref name=WTO/> Ukraine has been a WTO member since 2008.<ref name=WTO>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/65139/ Yanukovych: Ukraine won't join Customs Union] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514201713/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/65139/ |date=14 May 2011 }}, [[Kyiv Post]] (27 April 2010)</ref>

A [[Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia]] was thus created in 2010,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20081225170003.shtml |title=Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus plan on common economic space |publisher=Rbcnews.com |access-date=23 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130401220730/http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20081225170003.shtml |archive-date=1 April 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> A [[single market]] had been envisioned for 2012,{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} but instead the customs union was renamed as the [[Customs Union of the Eurasian Economic Union|Eurasian Customs Union]] and expanded to include Armenia and Kyrgyzstan in 2015.

===Union State of Russia and Belarus===
{{main|Union State}}

===Organisation of Central Asian Cooperation===
[[Kazakhstan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Tajikistan]], [[Turkmenistan]] and [[Uzbekistan]] formed the OCAC in 1991 as [[Central Asian Commonwealth]] (CAC).{{citation needed|date=December 2021}} The organisation continued in 1994 as the Central Asian Economic Union (CAEU), in which Tajikistan and Turkmenistan did not participate. In 1998 it became the Central Asian Economic Cooperation (CAEC), which marked the return of Tajikistan. On 28 February 2002, it was renamed to its current name. Russia joined on 28 May 2004.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ecetrade.typepad.com/Central%20Asian%20Cooperation%20Organization%20basic%20info.doc |title=Central Asian Cooperation Organisation |access-date=23 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130223122437/http://ecetrade.typepad.com/Central%20Asian%20Cooperation%20Organization%20basic%20info.doc |archive-date=23 February 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> On 7 October 2005, it was decided between the member states that Uzbekistan will join{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} the Eurasian Economic Community and that the organisations will merge.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://centralasia.foreignpolicyblogs.com/collective-security-organization-timeline/ |title=Collective Security: A Timeline |publisher=Centralasia.foreignpolicyblogs.com |access-date=23 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510101132/http://centralasia.foreignpolicyblogs.com/collective-security-organization-timeline/ |archive-date=10 May 2011 }}</ref> The organisations joined on 25 January 2006. It is not clear what will happen to the status of current CACO observers that are not observers to EurAsEC ([[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] and [[Turkey]]).

===Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations===
{{main|Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations}}
The post-Soviet [[disputed states]] of [[Abkhazia]], [[South Ossetia]], and [[Transnistria]] are all members of the [[Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations]] which aims to forge closer integration among the members.

===GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development===
{{main|GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development}}
The GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development is a regional organisation of four [[post-Soviet states]]: [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Ukraine]], [[Azerbaijan]], and [[Moldova]].

== Assessments and criticism ==
A. Elchibey, the 2nd president of Azerbaijan, called the CIS a "big collective farm" that Russia uses to "preserve the old empire":<ref>{{cite news |date=4 Mar 1998 |title=Abulfaz Elchibey, former President of Azerbaijan. |url=http://home.swipnet.se/~w-10652/elchibey.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203005106/http://home.swipnet.se/~w-10652/elchibey.html |archive-date=2014-02-03 |accessdate=2017-10-04 |publisher=Literaturnaya Gazeta in Russian |language=en}}</ref>
{{blockquote|A serious mistake was made during the construction of such an entity as the CIS. Perhaps it could have stood if it had been conceived as a Commonwealth of Nations of Independent States — I emphasize the word "independent", in which the rights of each State: [[Armenia]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] and [[Azerbaijan]]a — would be protected. [[Abkhazians]] in [[Abkhazia]] is using Russian troops to oust the [[Georgians|Georgian]] population. Is this a Commonwealth of Nations? Russia uses the CIS, trying to preserve the old empire in a new form and inventing various mechanisms for this. The CIS leaders have not made at least one serious attempt to resolve the [[Karabakh conflict|Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict]] or any other conflicts within the territory of [[Post-Soviet space|post-Soviet zone]]. I once called the CIS a big collective farm without rights. Such a collective farm will inevitably fall apart, and this, in fact, has already happened.}}
Russian diplomat A. Denisov does not believe that the CIS is being used by Russia to realise imperial ambitions, to restore the USSR:<ref>{{cite web |date=2009-12-17 |title=СНГ приносит пользу и государствам, и простым людям |url=https://iz.ru/news/356601 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126220719/https://iz.ru/news/356601 |archive-date=2019-01-26 |access-date=2019-01-26 |website=Известия}}</ref>
{{blockquote|As for the "imperial ambitions", the restoration of the USSR. The CIS is an organization that builds its work on the basis of consensus. Any participating State has the right to veto any decision. In practice, the principle of the so-called "moving geometry" is being implemented, when states decide which projects they should participate in and which not. Moreover, even the non-recognition of the legal personality of the CIS by one of the states does not prevent its participation in areas of cooperation beneficial to it in the Commonwealth format. I have already mentioned Georgia. Against this background, what imperial ambitions of Russia can we even talk about? It's just ridiculous.}}
[[Mikhail Krotov]], a Russian scientist, government and international civil servant, who headed the Council of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly in 1992-2012, writes that the liquidation of the USSR and the independence of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine through the signing of the [[Belovezha Accords]] on 8 December 1991, and then other Soviet republics, according to the Alma Ata Declaration on 21 December 1991, were "They are directly linked to the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States as an interstate association forming a common socio-economic space., a common military-strategic space under a joint command, conducting a coordinated foreign policy and protecting the ethnic, cultural, linguistic, etc. rights of national minorities." Krotov emphasises that in order to meet Ukraine halfway, the CIS founding document significantly reduced the level of integration, limited its scope and excluded supranational functions of the Commonwealth bodies, but "Ukraine did not sign even such a weakened version of the CIS Charter," which, according to the author, "grossly violated the terms of its withdrawal from the USSR.". In this regard, Krotov agrees with Russian President Vladimir Putin's conclusion that "Ukraine did not legally gain independence.".<ref name="Кротов">''Кротов М. И.'' [https://www.eijournal.ru/jour/article/view/932/371 От Беловежских соглашений до Евразийского экономического союза: опыт тридцатилетия] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211101131605/https://www.eijournal.ru/jour/article/view/932/371}} // Евразийская интеграция: экономика, право, политика. — 2021. — Т. 15. — № 3. — С. 22-34.</ref>

American geopolitician [[Zbigniew Brzezinski]] believed that "it was Ukraine's actions... that prevented the CIS from becoming just a new name for a more federal USSR."<ref name="Бжезински">''[[Бжезинский, Збигнев|Бжезинский З.]]'' Великая шахматная доска. Господство Америки и его геостратегические императивы (The Great Chessboard) / пер. с англ. О. Уральская. — Серия: Мировой порядок. — Москва: AСТ, 2021. — С. 116. — 256 с. — ISBN 978-5-17-135174-8</ref>

== Coins ==

* The Central Bank of the Russian Federation has minted several commemorative coins dedicated to the Commonwealth of Independent States.
<gallery class="center">
File:RR5009-0013_1_рубль_2001_медно-никелевый_аверс.gif|Obverse of the 1-ruble 2001 copper-nickel alloy coin
File:RR5009-0013R_1_рубль_2001_медно-никелевый_10-летие_Содружества_Независимых_Государств_реверс.gif|Reverse of a 1-ruble coin
File:RR5111-0097.gif|Obverse of the 3-ruble 2001 silver coin of 900
File:RR5111-0097R_10-летие_Содружества_Независимых_Государств.gif|Reverse of a 3-ruble coin
File:RR5111-0211_3_рубля_серебро_2011_аверс.png|Obverse of the 3-ruble coin of 2011 made of 925 sterling silver
File:RR5111-0222R.png|Reverse of a 3-ruble coin
</gallery>

* In 2006, the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus issued commemorative coins "Commonwealth of Independent States. 15 years" in denominations of 1 (copper-nickel) and 20 (silver, 925) white rubles.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Памятные монеты «Содружество Независимых Государств. 15 лет» |url=http://www.nbrb.by/CoinsBanknotes/Coins/Commemorative/?id=29 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608120724/http://www.nbrb.by/CoinsBanknotes/Coins/Commemorative/?id=29 |archive-date=2017-06-08 |access-date=2017-06-03}}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Asia|Europe|Politics|Russia}}
* [[Collective Security Treaty Organization]] (CSTO)
* [[Eurasianism]]
* [[Russian world]]
* [[Comecon]]
* [[Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations]]
* [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union]]
* [[Eastern Bloc]]
* [[Eurasian Economic Union]]
* [[Lublin Triangle]]
* [[Post-Soviet states]]
* [[Unified Team at the Olympics|Unified Team]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Journals===
{{reflist|group=journal}}

==External links==
{{sister project links|d=Q7779|n=no|wikt=no|s=no|q=no|v=no|c=Category:Commonwealth of Independent States|b=no}}
* {{webarchive |url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20060720174729/http://www.therussiasite.org/legal/laws/CIScharter.html |title=Charter of the CIS |date=20 July 2006}}
* [https://e-cis.info Official CIS internet portal (in Russian)]
* [https://www.cis.minsk.by/ CIS Executive Committee (in Russian)]
* [https://new.cisstat.org Interstate Statistical Committee of the CIS (in Russian)]

{{Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)|state=collapsed}}
{{Current CIS Leaders}}
{{Regional organisations}}
{{CARO}}
{{Shanghai Cooperation Organisation}}
{{International power}}
{{Eastern Bloc}}
{{Soviet Union topics}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Commonwealth Of Independent States}}
[[Category:Commonwealth of Independent States| ]]
[[Category:Post-Soviet states]]
[[Category:Confederations]]
[[Category:Dissolution of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:United Nations General Assembly observers]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1991]]
[[Category:1991 establishments in Asia]]
[[Category:1991 establishments in Europe]]
[[Category:1991 establishments in the Soviet Union]]