The sovereign republics parties to the Treaty, expressing the peoples' will to renew their union...have resolved to build their relations on new principles within a Union of Sovereign Soviet Republics.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

It has been represented by Gorbachev as a charter for a new Union of Sovereign Soviet Republics, one which would strip Moscow center of its dominant position and vest new autonomy in the governments of fifteen republics.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy