Recognized as beneficial: Moldova and Ukraine remain parties to more than 300 CIS agreements

Ukraine and Moldova remain in almost 60% and 40% of the agreements within the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Currently, Kiev participates in 103 international treaties, and Moldova participates in 210, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Izvestia. The ministry notes that the countries do not comply with the provisions of the treaties with respect to the Russian Federation, but take advantage of them. On July 4, Chisinau will begin negotiations on joining the European Union, and Kiev also seeks to become a part of this association. Georgia, which is a member of 34 agreements concluded within the framework of the CIS, remains a candidate for EU membership. About why Chisinau, Kiev and Tbilisi remain in these international treaties and whether it is possible to return to the Commonwealth of Georgia — in the material of Izvestia.

Moldova and Ukraine in the CIS

Negotiations on Moldova's accession to the European Union will be launched on July 4. The negotiation process with Ukraine is stalling — Hungary is against it. Both countries have been eligible for EU membership since 2022. As of the end of June this year, Ukraine withdrew from about 200 agreements concluded in the CIS format, Moldova — from about 140, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Izvestia. Kiev and Chisinau are striving to become part of the EU, while maintaining ties with the Commonwealth of Independent States.

"At the moment, according to the information of the CIS Executive Committee as the depositary of international treaties within the Commonwealth, Ukraine remains a party to 103 agreements, Moldova — 210," the agency told Izvestia.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Taleh Mahmudov

These documents mainly have a trade, economic, social and humanitarian orientation, the Russian Foreign Ministry noted.

"At the same time, it is important to understand that even if, for example, Ukraine or Moldova are still parties to certain international treaties, this does not mean that they faithfully comply with their provisions in relation to Russia," the diplomats said.

For example, Ukraine and Moldova violated the provisions of the Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement within the CIS when the deep and comprehensive FTA agreement with the EU began operating in 2016. Or, for example, in 2022, the Russian Federation indicated that Moldova had violated its obligations under the intergovernmental agreement within the CIS by refusing to finance the Mir TV channel in 2023.

The 1994 Agreement on Labor Migration provides for a simplified procedure for the employment of CIS citizens. However, since 2017, Ukraine has introduced electronic declarations for labor migrants from the CIS countries. And in 2019, she consolidated the course towards the EU in the constitution, which contradicts the idea of a common migration space of the CIS. Since 2008, Moldova has been implementing biometric passports according to the standards of the European Union, not the CIS, which violates the principles of a coordinated policy.

If Chisinau's attitude towards the commonwealth began to change after President Maia Sandu came to power in 2020, Kiev suspended its activities back in 2014. In May 2018, Petro Poroshenko, then the head of state, signed a decree on the final termination of Ukraine's participation in the work of the statutory bodies of the commonwealth. In August of the same year, the representative office of Ukraine at the statutory bodies of the CIS was closed.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov

Ukraine and Moldova remain de jure members of the CIS, but they have actually curtailed their participation in the activities of the commonwealth. They ignore meetings of the statutory bodies, do not sign final decisions, and do not pay equity contributions to the unified budget of the CIS bodies. At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry notes that this situation even has a positive effect on the dynamics of the organization's work, the quality and content of the decisions taken.

— Ukraine and Moldova have never been at the forefront of integration processes within the CIS. At the same time, based on purely pragmatic considerations, they continue to enjoy certain advantages provided by the commonwealth, including a free trade zone, visa—free regime, special conditions in the field of labor migration, and the like," the ministry explained. — The restoration of the participation of Kiev and Chisinau in the practical work of the CIS depends primarily on themselves. We don't see any signals in this direction yet.

Chisinau has repeatedly said that the country should withdraw from the CIS. So, in 2023, Moldovan Minister of Economic Development Dmitry Alaiba stated that this was inevitable, participation in the commonwealth was incompatible with EU membership. But he noted that the republic would not terminate contracts that benefit entrepreneurs.

In 2022, the speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk, said that the country would not terminate all previously concluded agreements with Russia and Belarus, because it was necessary to preserve agreements that relate to human rights. "For example, if Ukrainians are on the territory of those states, as well as prisoner exchanges, all this happens at the level of international agreements," he said.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Dmitry Dudo

There are a number of CIS documents that are almost impossible to get out of, Andrei Suzdaltsev, a political scientist at the Higher School of Economics, told Izvestia.

— For example, they are related to transit, visa—free regimes, railway, aviation, pipeline transport, financial payments, these are all infrastructural things that were reflected in the CIS agreements. Without officially leaving the CIS, these countries have tried to keep for themselves what is beneficial to them. So, although, in principle, Ukraine does not have trade relations with Russia now, but they do with other CIS countries, for example, with Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan, which do not participate in their trade," he said.

Georgia's participation in the CIS

Georgia remains a candidate for EU membership. Although the country officially withdrew from the CIS after the 2008 conflict, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry, it continues to participate in 34 international treaties signed through the commonwealth. These agreements also have a trade, economic, social and humanitarian focus. The terms of Georgia's withdrawal are set out in the relevant decision of the CIS Council of Heads of State, which stipulates that international treaties signed within the CIS have been in force for Georgia since August 18, 2009.

—At the same time, Tbilisi continues to participate in some agreements through the organization with unlimited membership," the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed.

Georgia is also consistently moving away from the CIS. So, this year the country withdrew from the agreement on the exchange of scientific and technical information with the countries of the commonwealth. At the same time, the Georgian Dream, the ruling party in the country, seeks to build a dialogue not only with the EU, but also with Russia. Tbilisi is mainly focused on strengthening economic ties with Moscow.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Konstantin Kokoshkin

CIS Secretary General Sergei Lebedev previously noted that the commonwealth is open to Georgia's return. However, it should be understood that, given the country's withdrawal from the organization, its return will require the consent of all member States of the commonwealth. Last year, Belarus called for Georgia's return to the CIS. Andrei Suzdaltsev notes that Tbilisi will not be able to return to the organization largely due to difficulties in relations with the Russian Federation.

— Relations between Russia and Georgia are blocked by fact and history. The fact is that we recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, former regions of Georgia. The story is about the South Ossetian war, in which Georgia lost. So, at best, our relations will gradually become more or less stable in the economic and cultural spheres, for example, tourism, but not in political terms," he said.

The efforts of the authorities to build a multi-vector foreign policy are encountering resistance from a part of the population, says Dmitry Sidorov, head of the Department of Foreign Regional Studies at MGLU. In his opinion, these sentiments are actively fueled by European countries. Therefore, the decision to return to the CIS may exacerbate the existing contradictions in Georgia and shake the position of the current leadership.