Relations between Ukraine and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) are multilateral international relations between a third state and a supranational organization.
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union (USSR), the 1991 Belovezh Accords confirmed the breakup and established the CIS as a successor entity. Belarus, Russia and Ukraine were the signatories. Ukraine is a founding member of the CIS, although since it did not sign or ratify the subsequent CIS Charter (finalized in 1993) it thus has never been a member of the CIS. Nonetheless, Ukraine participated in various CIS bodies until severing these relations in 2018 due to the protracted Russo-Ukrainian War. Ukraine remains a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States Free Trade Area.
After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia–Ukraine relations were completely broken off. Due to Belarusian involvement in the invasion, Belarus–Ukraine relations deteriorated extremely. Moreover, Ukraine began intensive denunciation of various agreements with the CIS due to European integration and the process of joining the European Union.
History
Belovezh Agreement and Alma-Ata Protocol
On 7–8 December 1991, the chairman of the Supreme Council of Belarus Stanislaŭ Šuškievič, the President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin and the President of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk met on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, in the Biełaviežskaja Pušča near Brest. The result of this summit was the official confirmation of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and an agreement (the Belovezh Accords) on the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). On 21 December 1991, at a meeting in Almaty, the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan signed the Alma-Ata Protocol on the formation of the CIS.
Ukraine developed cooperation with the CIS states on the basis of the agreement and protocol, subject to reservations expressed by the Verkhovna Rada (parliament of Ukraine) "concerning Ukraine's conclusion of the Agreement", expressed in a 20 December 1991 statement which provided its official interpretation of and reservations toward the agreement:
According to its legal status, Ukraine is and remains an independent state – a subject of international law. Ukraine denies the transformation of the CIS into a state entity with its own authorities and administration. Ukraine denies granting the CIS the status of a subject of international law. Coordinating institutes within the framework of the commonwealth cannot have an authoritative character, their decisions are advisory. Carrying out foreign policy independently, Ukraine will enter into consultations with other states of the commonwealth. The border between Ukraine on the one hand and Russia and Belarus on the other is the state border of Ukraine, which is inviolable. Ukraine will create its own armed forces based on that of the former USSR located on its territory. Ukraine will strive to acquire the status of a nuclear-free state by destroying all nuclear arsenals under effective international control and, based on the Declaration on State Sovereignty of Ukraine, will not join military blocs. The presence of strategic armed forces on the territory of Ukraine is temporary. Their legal status and term of stay on the territory of Ukraine should be determined by the law of Ukraine and a special intergovernmental agreement concluded between the states on the territory of which the nuclear weapons of the former USSR are located. Ukraine will create its own open economic system by introducing its own currency, creating its own banking and customs systems, developing its own transport and communication systems, as well as participating in regional and interregional markets. Disputes regarding the interpretation and application of the provisions of the agreement will be resolved by Ukraine through negotiations on the basis of international law. Ukraine reserves the right not only to suspend, but also to terminate its participation in the agreement or its individual articles. Ukraine guarantees the fulfillment of international obligations arising for it from the treaties of the former USSR, in accordance with its national legislation.
At a press conference in Almaty on 21 December 1991, Leonid Kravchuk answered the journalist's question “Question to all (heads of state). Why did you refuse the name Commonwealth of Euro-Asian and Independent States?” as follows: “The fact is that the beginning of the Commonwealth and the foundation of the Commonwealth was laid in Minsk and the corresponding name was given to the Commonwealth there. After that three states - Belarus, Russia, Ukraine - have already ratified these documents. Therefore, it would be unreasonable to change the name both legally and politically.” Nursultan Nazarbayev immediately added: “But in the Declaration, which you will read tomorrow, the economic area is called Eurasian.” Answering the journalist's question about the “amendments made by the Ukrainian Parliament” to the Belovezha Agreement, Leonid Kravchuk replied: “According to the Vienna Convention, any document signed by a head of state is binding on that state, as well as the amendments made by the parliaments of a state during ratification of this document are binding, so in this case both documents are in force: the Belarusian document signed by me and others, and the amendments made by the parliaments.Original in Russian: Вопрос журналиста "Вопрос всем (главам государств). Почему вы отказались от названия Содружество Евро-Азиатских и Независимых Государств?". Ответ Кравчука: "Дело в том, что начало Содружеству и фундамент Содружеству был заложен в Минске и соответствующее название было дано Сожружеству именно там. После этого уже три государства - Беларусь, Россиия, Украина - ратифицировали эти документы. И поэтому менять название и в правовом и в политическом отношении было бы нецелесообразно." Нурсултан Назарбаев добавил: "Но в декларации, которую вы завтра прочитаете, экономическое пространство называется Евразийским". Леонид Кравчук ответил о поправках: "Согласно Венской конвенции, любой документ, подписанный главой государства является обязательным для данного государства равно как и являются обязательными поправки, которые деляются парламентами того или иного государства при ратификации данного документа, поэтому в данном случае действую оба документа: и подписанный мной и другими Белорусский документ, и поправки, внесённые парламентами".
According to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties: A State may, when signing, ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to a treaty, formulate a reservation A reservation expressly authorized by a treaty does not require any subsequent acceptance by the other contracting States unless the treaty so provides When it appears from the limited number of the negotiating States and the object and purpose of a treaty that the application of the treaty in its entirety between all the parties is an essential condition of the consent of each one to be bound by the treaty, a reservation requires acceptance by all the parties. When a treaty is a constituent instrument of an international organization and unless it otherwise provides, a reservation requires the acceptance of the competent organ of that organization A reservation is considered to have been accepted by a State if it shall have raised no objection to the reservation by the end of a period of twelve months after it was notified of the reservation or by the date on which it expressed its consent to be bound by the treaty, whichever is later
According to the information from the depository of the international agreement 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, Ukraine has not made any reservations or sent any notifications other than the ratification of the Agreement on 10 December 1991 in its entirely and without reservations, and the Agreement itself remains in force for Ukraine without reservations as of 2024.
Charter: Ukraine does not recognize the international legal personality The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine noted in 2012 that “the CIS was created after the dissolution of the USSR by signing the Agreement on the Creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States on 8 December 1991. This agreement was ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on 10 December 1991 with reservations set out in the Statement of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of 20 December 1991. According to the Statement, in particular, “Ukraine denies the transformation of the Commonwealth of Independent States into a supranational entity with its own authorities and governance”, “...denies granting the Commonwealth of Independent States the status of a subject of international law”, “Coordination institutions within the Commonwealth cannot have a mandatory character, and their decisions are advisory”.
On 22 January 1993, the CIS Charter was adopted. Since Ukraine does not recognize the international legal personality of the CIS, Ukraine has not signed the CIS Charter. Therefore, Ukraine is not a member state, but has the status of a founding member state and a participating state of the CIS.”
1990s
CIS member states closely cooperate in the field of international legal assistance and cooperation. In particular, on 22 January 1993, the heads of the CIS member states, including Ukraine, signed the Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family and Criminal Matters, and on 29 March 1997, the protocol to it.
After the collapse of the USSR, a number of environmental problems escalated from domestic to international in nature and required the coordination of efforts by the newly independent states. In this regard, the CIS states concluded a number of international agreements on the implementation of joint environmental protection measures, and the provision of mutual assistance in responding to environmental disasters and other emergency situations. Among the agreements Ukraine signed were the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Ecology and Environmental Protection (1992), the agreement on cooperation in the field of conservation and use of genetic resources of cultivated plants (1999), and the agreement on cooperation in the field of training specialists in radioecology, radiation safety, radiobiology and related sciences (2000).
Ukraine prioritized economic cooperation within the CIS. The basic documents on economic issues within the Commonwealth are the Agreement on the Establishment of the Economic Union (1993) and the Agreement on the Creation of a Free Trade Zone (1999). Ukraine did not sign the former of these, which has the aim of integrating the economies of members and creating a single customs and currency area. However, with the consent of the members, Ukraine became an associate member to the Economic Union on 15 April 1994, assuming only part of the treaty's obligations.
2000s
On 7 October 2002, Ukraine signed a new version of the Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family, and Criminal Matters at a meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the CIS.
Ukraine proposed specific priority tasks to develop in 2003 for economic cooperation between CIS member states:
complete the legal registration of the free trade zone and organize its regulatory and legal framework; start using the basic norms and rules of free trade, analyze the application of norms regarding the free trade zone in the legislation of the participating states; carry out constant monitoring of processes;