The foreign ministers of the Caspian littoral countries at a meeting in Ashgabat (28 Jun) agreed on a number of documents and Communique to be adopted during the Caspian Summit scheduled for today (29 June).
Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tleuberdi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran Hossein Amir Abdollahiyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov, Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Khalaf Khalafov took part in the meeting.
During the meeting, such key issues as the confirmation of sovereignty, equality, non-interference in internal affairs were also discussed.
The relevance and immutability of the principles reflected in the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, signed on 12 August 2018 at the summit in Kazakhstan, was emphasized. The Convention defines the exclusive sovereign right of the five states in relation to the Caspian Sea and its resources.
The parties confirmed their commitment to cooperation in such areas as environmental protection, biological resources, scientific research, cooperation in preventing and overcoming the consequences of emergency situations (including infections, various diseases), energy, transport, as well as in other areas.
Moreover, the issues of military cooperation were touched upon. As Sergey Lavrov said after the meeting, “it is proposed to accelerate work on an agreement on the development of confidence-building measures regarding the military activities of the Caspian states.
He stressed that that the sides firmly reaffirmed the Convention’s principle the presence of armed forces of non-Caspian and non-coastal states should not be allowed.
According to him, the meeting confirmed the principle that navigation in the Caspian Sea is carried out only by vessels under the flag of one of the Caspian countries. The same principle applies to the entry and exit of any vessel from the Caspian Sea.
The sides have an understanding that after the summit, work will continue on strengthening and expanding the legal framework of Caspian cooperation, including in the areas of combating poaching and drug trafficking, as well as in a number of other areas, Russian foreign minister said. ///nCa, 29 June 2022