Relations between Russia and Ukraine are based on two fundamental documents - the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership of May 31, 1997 (the Big Treaty), which was automatically extended for another decade on October 1, 2008, and the Program of Economic Cooperation for 2008-2010. All in all, Russia and Ukraine have signed about 200 interstate and intergovernmental agreements.
The Russian-Ukrainian Interstate Commission (the second session of which took place on February 2009) is the main mechanism of bilateral cooperation. Its Committee on Economic Cooperation is headed by the prime ministers of the two countries. The Inter-Parliamentary Commission on Cooperation between Russia's Federal Assembly and Ukraine's Verkhovnaya Rada continues to operate (Its eighth meeting took place in Moscow on March 18, 2009).