RUSSIA'S FOREIGN POLICY IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES

The article considers the problems and prospects of foreign policy of Russia in the CIS. This region has traditionally been of high priority for Russia's foreign policy after the collapse of the USSR. At the same time, it is noted that for one and half decade after the collapse of the Soviet system, Russia's cooperation with the CIS countries was weak, and the integration initiatives were not convert into practice. The situation began to change in the mid-2000s. During the years 2009-2013 the integration processes in the CIS space received a new impetus. More active regional cooperation in the CIS space became possible due to the new "different speeds" development model and the for-mation of an "integration core" of the states, ready to reach a higher level of coopera-tion. The authors emphasize the following priority areas of the Russian foreign policy in the CIS: development of bilateral and multilateral cooperation with the Commonwealth member states, and the further strengthening of the CIS-organization, as it is the basis for strengthening the regional interaction of the states, which have not only a common historical heritage, but also a vast potential for integration in various spheres.