Ukraine announced its withdrawal from the Commonwealth of Independent States.

According to AFP, Director of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy announced on March 19 that Kiev has decided to withdraw from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), an alliance led by Moscow that replaced the former Soviet Union.

“The decision has been made to start the process of withdrawing from the CIS,” Parubiy said at a televised press conference.

Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Summit in September 2011. (Source: THX/TTXVN)

Mr Parubiy added that following the Kremlin's moves to annex the peninsula to Russia, Ukraine is now planning to withdraw its soldiers and their families from Crimea so they can quickly move to mainland Ukraine.

On March 19, gunmen from the Crimean self-defense forces attacked the Ukrainian Navy headquarters in Sevastopol and captured the Ukrainian Navy commander and took him to an unknown location.

This move is expected to further escalate the situation between the two countries that were once "brothers" in the former Soviet Union as well as in the CIS in the future./.

According to VNA