Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

Euthanasia should be the topic of discussion at the next summit of this unhealthy organization.

Surely, there is a cheaper way to discuss the weather than flying eight presidents to Moldova.

But that’s essentially what happened on Oct. 9 in Chisinau when some presidents of former Soviet republics attended the latest summit of their loose and increasingly ineffective Commonwealth of Independent States. As in most past C.I.S. summits, nothing of substance was said or done. It seemed like a complete waste of time. It was sparsely attended and failed to make any advancement in settling a long list of dirty laundry and growing pile of problems among the former Soviet allies.

Leaders of Ukraine and Russia – the region’s two most populous countries – failed to even meet privately. Attempts by President Victor Yushchenko to meet and discuss the difficult relations between both countries were snubbed by his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev. Instead, Medvedev and Yushchenko had a brief encounter during which they discussed the weather.

Established just after the collapse of the U.S.S.R., the C.I.S. was intended to help newly independent yet deeply intertwined ex-Soviet republics solve problems. It was intended to ease their political divorce, while preserving economic trade and prosperity. Instead, the Kremlin-dominated organization has served as one of many levers of influence for a still imperialistic Russia.

Georgia quit the organization earlier this year in protest of the 2008 brief but devastating war with Russia that resulted in de facto annexation of its two breakaway enclaves. Of course, the three Baltic nations of the former Soviet Union were never in.

Of 11 current members, three Central Asian presidents ignored the summit this time. Moldovan President Mihai Ghimpu ran for election at home on the platform that the C.I.S. is “an old woman wanting to die.” Tempted by the prospect of meeting Medvedev and getting into the international spotlight by hosting the summit, he changed his mind last week, saying the C.I.S. “wants to live.”

The next summit is planned for December 2010 in Russia. Promotion of research and innovation is on the agenda. Perhaps researchers should discuss euthanasia for this unhealthy organization. Rest in peace, C.I.S.