Azernews.Az

MOSCOW – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigori Karasin has said progress in the five Caspian littoral states’ talks on numerous issues of the legal status of the resource-rich Caspian Sea "is being reached not as fast as desired", the Russian Foreign Ministry reported on its website.

"It is evident that each littoral state has to contribute to seeking a balance of interests. Attempts to resolve these issues strictly for oneself while disregarding others’ positions threaten complications. But still, prospects for reaching a solution should be considered good," Karasin said in Astrakhan last week at a meeting of the Russian ambassadors to the littoral countries, which also include Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran.

"All countries of the ‘Caspian group of five’ need a document on the legal status of the basin that would meet their common interests and would benefit the development of each of the countries."

Azerbaijan, Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement in 2001 on dividing the Caspian’s northern area into national sectors, with Azerbaijan and Russia each possessing 19 percent, while the Central Asian state received 29 percent. However, the other two coastal nations, Iran and Turkmenistan, did not sign the agreement. Iran wants all resources shared equally among five states, even though its coast accounts for less than 14 percent.

The littoral states drew closer to an agreement on the Caspian status at the end of their talks in Baku in late April, but a slew of issues remain to be ironed out.

Karasin stressed the importance of the Caspian summit held in Baku in November 2010. He noted that besides a joint statement, the coastal nations’ leaders passed two decisions concerning delimitation of the Caspian seabed and a five-year ban on fishing sturgeons, a valuable fish whose stocks are falling.

Karasin emphasized that the presidents arrived at these two agreements during the Baku summit and they had not been formulated beforehand. He added that the coastal nations’ experts are working to enforce the agreements.