Moscow to host talks on Caspian Sea issues
By Nigar Orujova
A conference of ministers of foreign affairs of Caspian littoral states will be held in Moscow, Russia, on April 22.
The Moscow gathering will bring together Russian, Azerbaijani, and Iranian, Kazakh, and Turkmen foreign ministers.
The conference will see discussions on the preparations for the fourth Caspian summit to be held in the Russian Federation's Astrakhan region this fall. The foreign ministers will discuss the programme and agenda of the summit.
The conference also will see the foreign ministers' analyze the fulfillment of decisions made at the previous summit in Baku in 2010, including on the legal status of the Caspian Sea, security and response to common challenges and threats, environment, rational use of water biological resources, and prevention and elimination of emergency situations.
In July 1998, Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the northern part of the Caspian Sea. On Nov. 29, 2001 and Feb. 27, 2003, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the Caspian Sea.
The five Caspian littoral states signed the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea in November 2003.
The convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea is designed to create a legal basis for the long-term international cooperation, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov earlier said.