Ukraine severs last links with Commonwealth of Independent States
Photo: Foreign Minister of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha (Vitalii Nosach – RBC-Ukraine)
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has terminated 116 international agreements concluded with Russia, Belarus, and within the CIS, thereby definitively severing the country’s ties to the Soviet legal legacy, according to Foreign Minister of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha.
"It is my firm conviction that Ukraine’s legal and treaty framework must correspond to the realities of war and the new security architecture on the European continent. To achieve this, we must sever the last legal ties that once bound us to Russia, Belarus, and the so-called CIS," the Foreign Minister writes.
According to him, thanks to a government resolution, Ukraine has suspended 25 treaties, denounced 3, and withdrawn from 88 international agreements. Of these, 5 concern Russia, 23 concern Belarus, 87 concern the CIS, and one is a trilateral treaty between Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus.
"This is a rather thorough and comprehensive legal process that requires consistent work," the Minister adds.
Sybiha also emphasizes that these decisions are aimed at bringing Ukraine’s legal framework into line with the realities of war and Europe’s new security architecture.
Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed decrees on withdrawing from 31 international treaties within the CIS, and 14 draft laws on terminating 74 agreements have been registered in the Verkhovna Rada.
Overall, these steps allow for the completion of bringing Ukraine’s international bilateral and multilateral agreements with Russia, Belarus, and the CIS into line with current security realities.
The Minister emphasizes that this process is part of a strategy to eliminate everything that weakens Ukraine.
In early January, Ukraine officially terminated its participation in one of the foundational agreements signed within the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which concerned the protection of state borders and maritime economic zones.
Last year, the government approved draft laws providing for the termination, withdrawal from, and denunciation of many international agreements with Russia, Belarus, and within the CIS.
