Russian FM: We’ve completed almost two decades of work on Caspian Status Convention

09:30 - 6.12.2017


December 6, Fineko/abc.az. The meeting of the Caspian Littoral States' Foreign Ministers has been held in Moscow.

At a news conference following the meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made a statement.

“I announce with great satisfaction that we have found solutions to all the remaining major issues related to the preparation of this document. The text of the Convention is actually ready. In the near future, it will be edited and finalised, and translated into the national languages of the signatories, and each of the countries will perform the domestic procedure preparing it for signing at the top level,” Lavrov stated.

The Convention will be signed at the Fifth Caspian Summit, which will be held in Kazakhstan in the first half of next year.

“We’ve agreed to continue to vigorously promote the implementation of new promising joint projects, especially in the transport sector with its various aspects – from infrastructure development and commercial navigation to improving navigation safety – and the deepening of economic cooperation between the Caspian Five. At the initiative of Turkmenistan, we are intensively preparing intergovernmental agreements on economic and transport cooperation. We have agreed to document cooperation between our law enforcement agencies in their efforts to fight poaching, terrorism and organised crime as separate protocols,” the Russian FM said.

The question of the implementation of the framework Tehran Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea was covered separately. It was noted the five countries’ readiness to adopt the Protocol on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (EIA) to the Tehran Convention as soon as possible.

“As a whole, I’m greatly satisfied with the meeting results. We’ve completed almost two decades of work on the Convention and submitted it for approval to our heads of state. We expect them to support it,” FM Lavrov emphasized.

 

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