The organization was founded by the heads of the Russian Federation,
Belarus and Ukraine by signing a December 8, 1991 in Viskuli (Bialowieza Forest) "Agreement on the Establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States" (known in the media as Belovezhskoe Agreement).
Kazakhstan initially actively participated in the work, and establish a framework of the CIS. At the initiative of the Kazakh side December 21, 1991 was held in Almaty summit and signed the Almaty Declaration.
Today, the Commonwealth of Independent States plays an important role in the foreign policy of Kazakhstan due to a deep mutual integration of the participating countries in all fields of international relations.