On November 20, 2025, the CIS First Deputy Secretary-General Igor Petrishenko took part in the opening of the VIII International Conference of the EAEU Court in Minsk.
Igor Petrishenkо briefed the participants about the robust legal framework developed in the CIS and the existence of mechanisms to ensure equal cooperation between member states in political, social, economic, humanitarian, military, law enforcement, and other spheres.
The First Deputy Secretary-General also noted that the CIS legal framework for economic cooperation includes more than 250 international treaties in various areas. Economic relations between the Commonwealth countries, both within and outside the EAEU, are governed by such important treaties as the Free Trade Agreement, the Free Trade in Services Agreement, the Agreement on the Rules for Determining the Country of Origin of Goods, and many others. Work on new draft agreements is constantly underway to eliminate barriers between the CIS countries, regardless of their EAEU membership.
Igor Petrishenko emphasized that the issue of effectively aligning the economic formats of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Eurasian Economic Union is currently urgent. This will allow to expand the economic cooperation potential to a broader integration framework and jointly address the most complex challenges in the real sector of the economy.
The CIS has already created the necessary basement. Specifically, the CIS Heads of State Council defined the procedure for granting "the CIS Observer" and "the CIS Partner" status. The First Deputy Secretary-General stated that the necessity for the joint work is supported at the highest level, and he expressed confidence that it will yield positive results.