Moscow is expecting that a convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea will be signed at the fifth Caspian Summit to take place in Kazakhstan’s Astana in 2017, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, RIA Novosti reported.
He made the remarks Oct. 28 during a meeting with Foreign Minister of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif in Moscow.
Earlier, Moscow said a convention on the sea’s legal status can be signed in early 2017.
The Caspian states - Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran - signed a Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea in November 2003.
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 in July 1998. The two countries signed a protocol to the agreement in May 2002.
Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the Caspian Sea and a protocol to it on Nov. 29, 2001 and Feb. 27, 2003, respectively.
Additionally, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia signed an agreement on the delimitation of adjacent sections of the Caspian Sea on May 14, 2003.