MINSK, September 28. /TASS/. The former Soviet states confirm their readiness to develop cooperation with the European Union and the United States and expect that they will give up the sanctions policy, Executive Secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Sergey Lebedev said on Wednesday.

"We hope very much that the United States of America will abandon the sanctions policy. The voice of the Europeans that there is no need to continue sanctions is becoming louder," Lebedev said during the international conference devoted to the 25th anniversary of the CIS.

Lebedev said the CIS countries "have been always determined to build mutually beneficial relations with the Western partners." "This intention remains unchanged," he said.

The CIS, a regional organization formed during the collapse of the Soviet Union, now consists of nine countries - Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan and Ukraine are associate members.