Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union

Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union

Belovezha Agreement of 08.12.1991

AGREEMENT

ON THE CREATION OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES

We, the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Federation (RSFSR), Ukraine, as states — founders of the Union of SSR, which signed the Union Treaty of 1922, hereinafter referred to as the High Contracting Parties, state that the Union of SSR, as a subject of international law and a geopolitical reality, ceases to exist.

Proceeding from the historical community of our peoples and the ties that have formed between them, taking into account the bilateral treaties concluded between the High Contracting Parties, striving to build democratic law-governed states, intending to develop their relations on the basis of mutual recognition and respect for state sovereignty, the inalienable right to self-determination, the principles of equality and non-interference in internal affairs, renunciation of the use of force, economic or any other methods of pressure, settlement of disputed problems by conciliatory means, and other generally recognized principles and norms of international law, considering that the further development and strengthening of relations of friendship, good-neighborliness and mutually beneficial cooperation between our states meet the fundamental national interests of their peoples and serve the cause of peace and security,

confirming their commitment to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, Helsinki Final Act and other documents of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, undertaking to observe the generally recognized international norms on human and peoples' rights, have agreed as follows:

Article 1

The High Contracting Parties form the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Article 2

The High Contracting Parties guarantee to their citizens, regardless of their nationality or other differences, equal rights and freedoms. Each of the High Contracting Parties guarantees to citizens of the other Parties, as well as to stateless persons residing on its territory, regardless of their national affiliation or other differences, civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights and freedoms in accordance with generally recognized international norms on human rights.

Article 3

The High Contracting Parties, wishing to promote the expression, preservation and development of the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity of the national minorities inhabiting their territories and of the unique ethnocultural regions that have formed there, take them under their protection.

Article 4

The High Contracting Parties will develop equal and mutually beneficial cooperation of their peoples and states in the fields of politics, economics, culture, education, public health, environmental protection, science, trade, in the humanitarian and other fields, promote broad information exchange, and conscientiously and strictly observe mutual obligations. The Parties consider it necessary to conclude agreements on cooperation in the said fields.

Article 5

The High Contracting Parties recognize and respect each other's territorial integrity and the inviolability of existing borders within the framework of the Commonwealth. They guarantee the openness of borders, freedom of movement of citizens and transfer of information within the framework of the Commonwealth.

Article 6

The states — members of the Commonwealth will cooperate in ensuring international peace and security and in implementing effective measures to reduce armaments and military expenditures. They strive for the elimination of all nuclear weapons and for general and complete disarmament under strict international control. The Parties will respect each other's aspiration to achieve the status of a nuclear-free zone and a neutral state. The states — members of the Commonwealth will preserve and maintain, under unified command, a common military-strategic space, including unified control over nuclear weapons, the procedure for the exercise of which is regulated by a special agreement. They also jointly guarantee the necessary conditions for the deployment, functioning, and material and social provision of the strategic armed forces. The Parties undertake to pursue a coordinated policy on matters of social protection and pension provision for servicemen and their families.

Article 7

The High Contracting Parties recognize that the sphere of their joint activity, implemented on an equal basis through the common coordinating institutions of the Commonwealth, includes: — coordination of foreign policy activity; — cooperation in the formation and development of a common economic space, a common European and Eurasian market, and in the field of customs policy; — cooperation in the development of transport and communications systems; — cooperation in the field of environmental protection and participation in the creation of a comprehensive international system of ecological security; — matters of migration policy; — the fight against organized crime.

Article 8

The Parties are aware of the planetary nature of the Chernobyl catastrophe and undertake to unite and coordinate their efforts to minimize and overcome its consequences. They have agreed to conclude for these purposes a special agreement taking into account the severity of the consequences of the catastrophe.

Article 9

Disputes concerning the interpretation and application of the norms of this Agreement shall be resolved through negotiations between the relevant bodies, and, if necessary, at the level of the Heads of Government and Heads of State.

Article 10

Each of the High Contracting Parties reserves the right to suspend the operation of this Agreement or of its individual articles, having notified the participants of the Agreement thereof one year in advance. The provisions of this Agreement may be supplemented or amended by mutual consent of the High Contracting Parties.

Article 11

From the moment of the signing of this Agreement, the application of the norms of third states, including the former Union of SSR, is not permitted on the territories of the states that have signed it.

Article 12

The High Contracting Parties guarantee the fulfillment of the international obligations arising for them from the treaties and agreements of the former USSR.

Article 13

This Agreement does not affect the obligations of the High Contracting Parties with respect to third states. This Agreement is open for accession by all states that are members of the former USSR, as well as by other states sharing the goals and principles of this Agreement.

Article 14

The official seat of the coordinating bodies of the commonwealth is the city of Minsk. The activity of the bodies of the former USSR on the territories of the states that are members of the Commonwealth is terminated.

Done in the city of Minsk on 8 December 1991 in three copies, each in the Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian languages, all three texts being equally authentic.