Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, 15 of its former republics become independent. Twelve of these former republics formed the Commonwealth of Independent states, largely in recognition of

After the breakup of the Soviet Union, 15 of its former republics became independent. 3 of which, namely Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine, formed the Commonwealth of Independent States or CIS on December 1991. This consisted of the following members: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan. There is one associate member which is Turkmenistan. Ukraine, on the other hand, is recognized as a founding and participating country, but not a legal member. Georgia left the organization at around 2008-2009. In the year 2014, Ukraine declined its chairmanship and considered its ties with the organization.