The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is the confederation of countries that used to form the Soviet Union. On December 8, 1991, leaders of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine met at the nature reserve called Belovezhskaya Pushcha in Belarus. They discussed the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in place of the Soviet Union. They reached an agreement about many points and signed a document creating the CIS. One of these points stated that the alliance would be open to all the republics of the Soviet Union. Other nations with similar goals could also join the CIS.