Georgia is ready to leave the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a grouping of 12 ex-Soviet nations (all former Soviet republics minus the three Baltic States).

According to AVN, if Russia decides in favour of a new visa restriction bill between CIS-countries, Georgia will review its membership in the group. Shevardnadze said in an interview published in the "Izvestia" newspaper, mentioning the Moscow's recent unilateral decision to drop out of the visa-free travel agreement between the CIS states: "Russian military bases remain on our territory, and there are women and children there. I don't mean something horrible could happen, but these restrictions will estrange Georgia and Russia yet more". Russia announced in August it would require CIS citizens to obtain visas to travel in Russia, in an attempt to deal with threats of terrorism and drug trafficking. Relations between Russia and Georgia remain tense, with Moscow accusing Tbilisi of harbouring or allowing safe transit for separatists from war-torn Chechnya, which shares 80 kilometres (50 miles) of mountainous border with Georgia.