Georgia Wants to Withdraw from Commonwealth of Independent States

Georgia's president said Tuesday his nation would withdraw from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), an alliance of former Soviet republics.

Mikheil Saakashvili told reporters his government made the move in consultation with parliament and that it would be a departure from links to the old Soviet Union.

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The president said the strikes against his country have been conducted by people who want to restore the Soviet Union. By leaving the CIS, he said, "we are giving final adios to the Soviet Union."


Saakashvili said the CIS "has totally failed as an international organization" and it "basically could not do anything to prevent this tragedy from happening," a reference to the conflict between Russia and Georgia that began last week. Watch Georgia's reaction to halt in fighting

The CIS was created in 1991 and has included Georgia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine.

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