Belarusian leader says future of CIS depends on Russia

"Whether the CIS gets a ’second wind,’ a real additional impulse for further movement forward, depends on Russia. Russia plays a special role in this process, and has become the main engine of integration," he said.

"The principal goal is to make the Commonwealth one of the world’s economic powerhouses," he said.

He called for the creation of joint transport and logistic systems, in particular a Western China-Russia-Europe transit corridor, RIA Novosti reported.

The 11 full members of the CIS are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan is an associate member.