"Despite all the difficulties, the will and desire of the new independent states to cooperate prevailed over trends toward disbanding," Yakovenko said.
He said different forms of interaction between the CIS members had emerged, which testified to the establishment and gradual development of integration in the post-Soviet states.
The diplomat said the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which comprises Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and the Eurasian Economic Community (the same countries except Armenia) had become important organizations.
Yakovenko said that the desire of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine to find optimal ways of and models for economic integration had resulted in the plans to establish a Common Economic Space.
The spokesman said Russia's accession to the Central Asian Cooperation (CAC) organization, which unites Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, was also important.
Russia cooperates with Central Asian countries in efforts to combat terrorism and drug trafficking, the exploration and use of water and fuel-and-energy resources and the development of transport corridors. The CAC leaders raised the status of their organization by inviting Russia.
"Therefore, the processes in the CIS confirm a worldwide trend: integration in conditions of globalization and interdependency is an imperative," Yakovenko said. "Wherever the integration processes occur - either in the west or east of our continent - they equally contribute to establishment of a Greater Europe without dividing lines."
