Azernews.Az

The trans-Caspian gas pipeline project depends only on Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, and "no one else can interfere with it", US Ambassador in Baku Matthew Bryza has said.

"The United States supports Azerbaijan on this project. Both countries have strategic interests in this regard," Bryza said at a meeting of the Caspian-European Integration Business Club (CEIBC) in Baku on Wednesday.

The European Union decided earlier this month to open talks with Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan on the trans-Caspian pipeline. The European Commission will lead negotiations on the proposed $5 billion conduit. Russia has said it "regretted" the EU move, while Iran said it shares Moscow's concern.

The trans-Caspian gas pipeline is considered an integral part of the Nabucco project, designed to transport gas from the Caspian region and the Middle East to the EU. The Nabucco pipeline is part of planned links known as the Southern Corridor, intended to reduce EU dependence on Russian gas.

The 300-kilometer pipeline will be laid from the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan where it will be linked to the Nabucco pipeline. Talks between Turkmenistan and the EU on the construction of the trans-Caspian pipeline have been underway since the late 1990s. Its construction has been hampered by the unresolved status of the resource-rich Caspian Sea.