Russia voices attitude over Caspian Sea status issue

Russia considers it unacceptable to take the decision on the status of the Caspian Sea without taking into account the views of the Caspian states, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, RIA Novosti reported.

"The decision that is taken without regard to the views of all the Caspian states on how to use the Caspian Sea, and what is more with the Union, in this case, the European Union, which is located far away from these places - is unacceptable," Lavrov said, speaking at the state University in the capital of Armenia on Monday.

The minister said Russia believes that there is every reason to five Caspian states decide on the status of the Caspian Sea without anyone's tips and no one's quite provocative actions.
The littoral states (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran) signed the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea in November 2003.

In July 1998, Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the northern part of the Caspian Sea in order to exercise sovereign rights for subsoil use.

On Nov. 29, 2001 and Feb. 27, 2003, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the Caspian Sea. Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia signed an agreement on the delimitation of adjacent sections of the Caspian Sea on May 14, 2003.


/Trend/