Ukraine's foreign minister says the Commonwealth of Independent States has no future in its present form but indicated his country is not planning to quit the organization that groups 12 former Soviet republics.
Boris Tarasyuk told reporters in Kiev Tuesday that the commonwealth, long criticized for being dominated by Russia, has become stagnant.
Georgia has said it is considering quitting the group.
Ukrainian authorities are currently preparing for a summit Monday of leaders from another grouping of former Soviet republics known as GUAM, a group that brings together Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova. Tarasyuk says one purpose of next week's meeting is to strengthen and reorganize the smaller group, which, he said, could bring in other countries.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.