MOSCOW -- Russia will inherit the United Nations Security Council seat held by the now-dissolved Soviet Union under an agreement Saturday by the 11 former Soviet republics making up the new Commonwealth of world body's General Assembly.
Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, whose republic capital of Alma Ata hosted the commonwealth conference, announced the agreement on U.N. membership.
Russia plans to assume the Soviet seat in the General Assembly and take the Soviet Union's permanent seat on the Security Council alongside the other four permanent members with veto power -- the United States, the United Kingdom, China and France. The Security Council has five permanent members and 10 temporary, or rotating, members.
In addition to the Soviet Union, Byelorussia and Ukraine already have seats in the General Assembly -- which is composed of representatives of all nations belonging to the United Nations.
'The republic of Byelorussia, Russian Federation and Ukraine will support other commonwealth states in ... full membership in the U.N. and other international organizations,' according to the U.N. agreement hammered out in Alma Ata.
That will give Russia a separate and strong voice in the world body plus add eight more countries to the U.N. roster of some 160-plus nations.
However, the emerging nations of the former Soviet Union must begin by seeking recognition as independent states and then apply for acceptance into the United Nations.
As the former Soviet republics have declared independence, they have slowly picked up diplomatic recognition from other countries one by one, but the United States has yet to recognize any of the republics, though the formation of the commonwealth was expected to virtually ensure their acceptance in the world community.
The former Soviet republics will make their physical presence known on the world scene by operating out of former Soviet offices, embassies and trade missions around the world.
Russian President Boris Yeltsin issued a decree last week declaring that all such Soviet buildings and property now belonged to Russia, a move that angered leaders of some other republics who felt the property belonged to all former Soviet subjects.
However, Yeltsin reassured the republics who joined the commonwealth in Alma Ata that 'if any commonwealth state signs a diplomatic agreement with any other state, we will immediately give it a part of the property of this embassy.'
Yeltsin also said the commonwealth republics agreed to establish a commission to establish a value of the cost of the 133 Soviet embassies, consulates and trade missions around the world.
The 11 former Soviet republics that formed a new Commonwealth of Independent States will have no central government and no Kremlin leader to answer to, but they will have a Council of Heads of States.
