The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) members signed an agreement on Tuesday on the establishment of a free trade zone in the CIS region.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin speaks at a press conference in St. Petersburg, Russia, Oct. 18, 2011. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) members signed an agreement on Tuesday on the establishment of a free trade zone in the CIS region. [Lu Jinbo/Xinhua]

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the agreement was reached after "lengthy negotiation" at the CIS prime ministers council in St. Petersburg earlier Tuesday.

"The agreement was reached abruptly, following long, heated and constructive debates," Putin told a press conference here, calling it "an unexpected result."

He said the document would lay a new foundation for trade and economic relations within the CIS.

The ministers also signed another 28 documents, including a draft agreement on currency regulation policy and the creation of a unified database for citizens of third countries and people without citizenship entering a CIS country.

In addition, the prime ministers agreed to allot funds for the creation and development of a common air defense system in 2012.

CIS consists of 11 former Soviet republics, namely Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine.

Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan haven't signed the free- trade-zone deal yet, but agreed to join later, according to local media.

The loose association has been trying to form a regional free trade zone since early 1990s, but failed to reach any significant progress before Tuesday.

Russia has expected CIS countries to create the trade zone by 2012. At a CIS summit in Moscow in May, a draft agreement on free trade zone was presented without final signature.

Currently, intra-CIS relations were mostly based on bilateral free trade agreements. Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan have formed a Customs Union this year.