Ukraine quits number of CIS agreements, including one on CIS joint air defense

MOSCOW. Feb 26 (Interfax) - Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has signed a decree to withdraw Ukraine from the agreement on creating a joint air defense system of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member countries, Ukrainian media reported.

The decree, published on the presidential website, orders "the withdrawal from the agreement on creating a joint air defense system of the CIS member states, signed in Almaty on February 10, 1995."

Zelensky also terminated Ukraine's participation "in some of Ukraine's international treaties within the CIS," withdrawing Ukraine from 30 such treaties.

Specifically, Ukraine is terminating its participation in the agreement on the repatriation of cultural and historical valuables to the states of their origin, signed in Minsk on February 14, 1992.

Ukraine is also quitting the agreement on the restoration of the rights of deported people, national minorities and ethnic groups, signed in Moscow on May 17, 1996.

Other documents Ukraine will cease to be a party to include the 1991 agreement on CIS coordination institutions, the decision endorsing the provisions on the CIS states' permanent representatives to the statutory and other bodies of the Commonwealth, the agreement on the CIS states' interaction within the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the agreement on the CIS Council of Heads of Security Agencies and Special Services, the concept of the CIS states' cooperation in fighting crime, the concept of cooperation in countering drug trafficking, the agreement on advancing cooperation in combating international terrorism, the concept of cooperation in countering illegal immigration, and the concept of cooperation to fight crimes using information technologies.

Ukraine is also terminating its participation in the CIS agreement on groups of military observers and collective peacekeeping forces within the CIS, the agreement on law enforcement agencies within the Joint Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of the CIS member states, the agreement on the military oath in the strategic forces, the agreement on the principles for supplying the CIS states' Armed Forces with weapons, military hardware and materiel, the agreement on organizing the operations of repair enterprises, scientific research and R&D centers, and a number of corresponding protocols.