BELAVEZHA ACCORDS

Belavezha Accords: translation

Sometimes referred to as the Minsk Agreement, the Belavezha Accords were signed byBoris Yeltsin, Stanislau Shushkevich, and Leonid Kravchuk on 8 December 1991 at a statedachain Belovezhkaya Pushcha inBelarus. Representing the original core of the Soviet Union, that is Russia, Belarus, andUkraine, the three republican presidents effectively abrogated the treaty that bound together theunion republicsand replaced it with theCommonwealth of Independent States. On 12 December, the Supreme Soviet of theRussian Soviet Federative Socialist Republicratified the agreement, legally terminating the 1922 treaty that formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The events surrounding the meeting at Belavezha laid the groundwork for the 21 December 1991 Alma-Ata Protocol, the agreement that ultimately completed thedissolution of the Soviet Union.

See alsoAugust Coup.