Meeting of Heads of Caspian Countries’ Foreign Ministers

On 12-13 July Astana will host a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Caspian littoral states on the legal status of the Caspian Sea, said the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.

Issues of cooperation between the Caspian littoral states in determining the legal status of the sea will be discussed at the meeting. It is necessary to summarize the implementation of decisions taken earlier by the Presidents of the five Caspian countries, Zakharova said.

Note that the positions of the parties on this issue cannot be matched for 25 years.

Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have agreed on the division of the bottom along the midline and the common use of the seawater. Iran and Turkmenistan do not agree with this approach. Ashgabat disagrees with the way Baku paves the median line and insists on the fact that Azerbaijan has "seized" a part of the Turkmen sector of the sea.

Iran requires 20% of the sea, despite the fact that its coastline is only 13%.

Numerous meetings of the heads of the Caspian littoral states have not been able to resolve these contradictions. -02D-