Treaty on the Establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States

Treaty on the Establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States was concluded on 8 December 1991 by the leaders of the Russian SFSR, Ukrainian SSR, and Byelorussian SSR as a legal basis for the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the creation of a post-Soviet association. The agreement, signed at Belovezhskaya Pushcha near Pinsk, declared that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ceased to exist as a subject of international law and political reality, initiating a process that involved multiple republics of the Soviet Union and international actors. The instrument served as a foundational document for the Commonwealth of Independent States and influenced subsequent instruments such as the Alma-Ata Protocol and the Minsk Agreements that shaped post-1991 Eurasian arrangements.

Background and drafting

Negotiations leading to the accord took place amid the 1991 August Coup aftermath and the political collapse of institutions like the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Key drafters included statesmen from the Belarusian SSR such as Stanislav Shushkevich, the Russian SFSR delegation led by Boris Yeltsin, and the Ukrainian SSR delegation under Leonid Kravchuk, each representing republic-level presidencies that had gained prominence after the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and similar declarations in Ukraine and Belarus. The text was prepared in the context of competing instruments like the proposed New Union Treaty championed by Mikhail Gorbachev, and against the backdrop of international reactions from states including the United States, United Kingdom, France, and organizations such as the United Nations and the European Community.

Signatories and ratification

The original signatories were the heads of state of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and Belarus: Boris Yeltsin, Leonid Kravchuk, and Stanislav Shushkevich respectively, who met at Belovezhskaya Pushcha and signed on 8 December 1991. The accord was quickly supplemented by the Alma-Ata Protocol signed on 21 December 1991 in Almaty by representatives of additional former Soviet republics including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, many of which were represented by leaders such as Nursultan Nazarbayev, Heydar Aliyev, Eduard Shevardnadze, and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow (in later institutional roles). Ratification practices varied: some republics completed internal procedures in their republican legislatures like the Supreme Council of Ukraine and the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation, while others used presidential decrees or parliamentary approvals, and international recognition arrived from capitals such as Washington, D.C., London, Berne, and Beijing.

Provisions and legal framework

The instrument declared that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics no longer existed and established the Commonwealth of Independent States as a framework for coordinating relations among former Soviet republics, addressing issues such as succession of rights and obligations under treaties, diplomatic accreditation, and control of strategic assets including the Strategic Rocket Forces, nuclear arsenals located in Ukraine and Kazakhstan, and facilities in Russia. The text set out provisions for mutual respect of borders inherited from the Soviet Socialist Republics and endorsed principles of peaceful dispute resolution drawing on models from the United Nations Charter and customary international law recognized in instruments like the Vienna Convention on Succession of States in respect of Treaties (though not all parties were parties to that convention). The agreement created mechanisms for joint management of common concerns such as the Commonwealth of Independent States Collective Security Treaty precursors and arrangements affecting entities like the Central Election Commission of Russia when coordinating observer missions.

Implementation and institutional development

Following signature, implementation relied on provisional organs and later permanent bodies instituted under the Alma-Ata Protocol and subsequent CIS charters, including a council of heads of state, a council of heads of government, and a secretary-general position filled by figures such as Viktor Chernomyrdin and Gennady Burbulis in various CIS-related roles. Institutional development produced intergovernmental structures like the CIS Economic Court and joint enterprises concerned with energy transit through corridors crossing Ukraine and Belarus. Implementation encountered challenges in areas such as nuclear disarmament coordination involving the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty processes, the withdrawal of Strategic Rocket Forces warheads to Russian Federation control, and disputes over state succession raised before bodies like the International Court of Justice and in bilateral negotiations with states like Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.

Political and international impact

Politically, the agreement precipitated the formal end of Mikhail Gorbachev’s tenure and accelerated the international recognition of newly independent states including Ukraine and Kazakhstan by actors such as the European Union and United States Department of State. It reshaped security arrangements in Europe and Asia, influencing subsequent instruments like the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe discussions, the development of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, and bilateral memoranda with NATO and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. The accord also affected energy geopolitics involving companies and institutions such as Gazprom, Rosneft, and pipeline projects crossing Belarus and Ukraine, while prompting legal and diplomatic disputes over issues including citizenship, border delimitation, and minority rights adjudicated in fora such as the European Court of Human Rights and bilateral commissions. Long-term effects include sustained regional integration efforts through CIS bodies and the parallel emergence of alternative alignments like the Eurasian Economic Union and closer ties between the Russian Federation and states such as Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Category:1991 treaties Category:Post-Soviet history