Putin claims Georgia “still member” of CIS

Some countries are still part of the CIS, but they do not work in this format, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, naming Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova, while Tbilisi left the regional intergovernmental organization created after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in August 2009. 

 

“Everything started with Georgia after the failed attempt of the former president [Mikheil Saakashvili] to solve internal problems by force and attacks on South Ossetia [the currently Russian-controlled Tskhinvali region of Georgia]”, Putin said.  Speaking about Ukraine, Putin said it signed the foundational document of the CIS [in 1991], but never actually joined it in its full format.

 

“Ukraine actually avoided large-scale cooperation from the beginning,” he noted.

 

He added the “complete loss of the country’s identity” was the choice of the current leadership of Moldova.

 

“The elite of this country – they generally believe that they are not Moldovans. They call themselves Romanians. But this is their choice,” Putin said.