<P> When Pakistan became independent it claimed that it was automatically a member of the United Nations, as British India had been a founding member of the United Nations despite its colonial status . The United Nations Secretariat however expressed the following opinion: </P> <P> From the viewpoint of International Law, the situation is one in which part of an existing State breaks off and becomes a new State . On this analysis there is no change in the international status of India; it continues as a State with all treaty rights and obligations, and consequently with all rights and obligations of membership in the United Nations . The territory which breaks off--Pakistan--will be a new State . It will not have the treaty rights and obligations of the old State and will not, of course, have membership in the United Nations . In International Law the situation is analogous to the separation of the Irish Free State from Britain, and Belgium from the Netherlands . In these cases the portion which separated was considered a new State, and the remaining portion continued as an existing State with all the rights and duties which it had before . </P> <P> International convention since the end of the Cold War has come to distinguish two distinct circumstances where such privileges are sought by such a successor state, in only the first of which may such successor states assume the name or privileged international position of their predecessor . The first set of circumstances arose at the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1991 . One of this federation's constituent republics, the Russian Federation has declared itself to be "the continuator state of the USSR" on the grounds that it contained 51% of the population of the USSR and 77% of its territory . In consequence, Russia agreed that it would acquire the USSR's seat as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council . This was also accepted by the rest of the former states of the USSR; in a letter dated 24 December 1991, Boris Yeltsin, at the time President of the Russian Federation, informed the Secretary - General that the membership of the Soviet Union in the Security Council and all other United Nations organs was being continued by the Russian Federation with the support of the 11 member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States . All Soviet embassies became Russian embassies . </P> <P> On the other hand, the Baltic states represent a special case . An important tenet of the modern states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania is that their incorporation into the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1991 constituted an illegal occupation . In 1991 when each Baltic state regained their independence they claimed continuity directly from their pre-1940 status . Many other states share this view, and as such, these states were not considered either predecessor or successor states of the Soviet Union . As a consequence, the Baltic states were able to simply re-establish diplomatic relations with many countries, re-affirm pre-1940 treaties still in force, and resume membership to many international organisations . </P>

Which state is the successor of the ussr