Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.1
By Sabina Akhmedova - Trend:
Joint Statement of the Heads of States of the Caspian littoral countries signed at the summit, which states that the right to stay on the Caspian Sea belongs exclusively to armed forces of coastal countries will not affect the cooperation between Azerbaijan and the United States, spokesperson of the US State Department Jen Psaki said.
"We have seen the joint statement issued by the Caspian Five that, among other things, calls for the non-presence of armed forces in the Caspian Sea not belonging to one of the Caspian Five countries," Psaki said. "We maintain a strong security cooperation relationship with Azerbaijan, focusing on border security, counter-terrorism, NATO interoperability, and its capacity to contribute peacekeepers to international missions. We do not anticipate the Caspian Five joint statement will change that."
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev and Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov signed a joint statement Sept. 29 in Astrakhan within the framework of the IV Summit of the heads of Caspian littoral states.