armenia was the first of the former republics of the soviet union to be recognized as completely independent.
the first of the former republics of the soviet union to be recognized as completely independent?
armenia
all of the former republics of the union are now independent countries, with ten of them (all except the baltic states, georgia and ukraine) being very loosely organized under the heading of the commonwealth of independent states. however, most of the international community did not consider the baltic countries (lithuania, latvia, and estonia) to have legitimately been part of the ussr. the baltic states assert that their incorporation into the soviet union in 1940 (as the lithuanian, latvian, and estonian ssrs) under the provisions of the 1939 molotov–ribbentrop pact was illegal, and that they therefore remained independent countries under soviet occupation. their position is supported by the european union, the european court of human rights, the united nations human rights council and the united states. in contrast, the russian government and state officials maintain that the soviet annexation of the baltic states was legitimate.. constitutionally, the soviet union was a federation. in accordance with provisions present in the constitution (versions adopted in 1924, 1936 and 1977), each republic retained the right to secede from the ussr. throughout the cold war, this right was widely considered to be meaningless; however, the corresponding article 72 of the 1977 constitution was used in december 1991 to effectively dissolve the soviet union, when russia, ukraine, and belarus seceded from the union.
republics of the soviet union
the summit of alma-ata also issued a statement on december 21, 1991 supporting russia's claim to be recognized as the successor state of the soviet union for the purposes of membership of the united nations. on december 25, 1991, russian president yeltsin informed un secretary-general javier pérez de cuéllar that the soviet union had been dissolved and that russia would, as its successor state, continue the soviet union's membership in the united nations. the document confirmed the credentials of the representatives of the soviet union as representatives of russia, and requested that the name "soviet union" be changed to "russian federation" in all records and entries. this was a move designed to allow russia to retain the soviet union's permanent security council seat, which would not have been possible if the former republics were all reckoned as equal successors of the soviet union, or if the soviet union was regarded as having no successor state for the purpose of continuing the same un membership (see russia and the united nations). the secretary general circulated the request, and there being no objection from any member state, the russian federation took the soviet union's un seat. on january 31, 1992, russian federation president yeltsin personally took part in a security council meeting as representative of russia, the first security council meeting in which russia occupied the permanent security council seat originally granted to the soviet union by the un charter.
belovezha accords