The European Union is imposing Trans-Caspian gas pipeline project on Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov said on Monday, speaking at the at the Don State Technical University, ITAR-TASS reported.
"Our European partners are imposing the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline on Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, disregarding the fact that such issues should be resolved between the coastal nations rather than in Brussels," Lavrov said.
According to the estimates of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment the only explored reserves amount to: 2.95 billion tons of oil, and over 3.1 trillion cubic meters of the natural oil gas.
Five coastal states (Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan) are capable of deciding the fate of the Caspian Sea - without the intervention of third countries. Talks are underway, and the sides are ready to reach the practical agreements.
Attempts to determine the legal status of the Caspian Sea have been undertaken since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Prior to 1991, this lake - the greatest in the world - was divided between the Soviet Union and Iran.
The EU and the U.S. are persistently promoting the idea of building of the so-called Trans-Caspian gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan without considering opinions, interests and concerns of other members of the so-called Caspian 'five'.