KIEV, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday instructed the cabinet to start the procedure to withdraw from the management bodies of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
"Ukraine must officially terminate its participation in the statutory bodies of the CIS," Poroshenko was quoted as saying during the 11th Kiev Security Forum.
The Ukrainian authorities should also revise the agreements signed within the framework of the CIS and make sure that they comply with Ukraine's national interests, Poroshenko said.
Previously, Ukraine has voiced its intention to stop the work within the CIS due to the political dispute with Russia.
Relations between Kiev and Moscow have been deteriorating since early 2014 over their different stances on the developments in Crimea and eastern Ukraine.
The CIS was founded in 1991 as a regional association of former Soviet republics. Its members comprise of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Ukraine and Turkmenistan are associate members of the organization.
