ABSTRACT
Russia's cooperative interactions with the other republics began as a deliberate process of broad, general cooperation. It manifested every sign of being well thought out and all encompassing. It was not, even at the point of initiation, a narrow, single goal oriented process of cooperation. The Russian leaders were not somewhat haphazardly trying to cope with unfolding events by taking care of the most important aspect of inter-republican interactions — inter-republican trade. Nor were they participating, as equal partners, with the other republics in a joint struggle to augment republican autonomy. The whole process, if we look at the actual interactions, looks more like an effort to mould Russia's ties with the republics into a different kind of relationship.
