YEREVAN.- Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, all independent republics were faced with common problems – downturn and GDP slump, internal and external conflicts, Armenian political analyst said during space bridge organized by Russian RIA Novosti agency.

Alexander Markarov said all the aforesaid in addition to closed borders refers to Armenia. He believes CIS, as a platform for maintaining ties between the former Soviet states, was not developing successfully. New structures, such as CSTO and Customs Union, appeared as examples of cooperation in various levels.

The analyst believes economic projects may become a backbone for CIS integration. Such projects may be the basis of political integration, while the other direction is humanitarian cooperation.