A special working group met in Moscow on Tuesday to develop the Convention on the Caspian Sea legal status for the 29th meeting of the deputy foreign ministers of Caspian Sea countries, RIA Novosti reported.
"Two years have passed since the previous working group meeting in March 2009, which took place in Moscow. They were characterized by three rounds of high intensity dialogues over the Caspian status. An agreement on security cooperation between the Caspian states has a unique path", Russian State Secretary and Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said while opening the meeting.
He said today's meeting should develop a document to advance the outcome of the Baku Summit, which was held in late 2010.
Karasin noted that Astrakhan will host a special meeting of the Commission on Aquatic Bioresources of the Caspian Sea, to which all littoral states were invited in late July.
Karasin expressed the hope that a draft agreement prepared by the Russian side on the conservation of sturgeons in the Caspian Sea will be supported at this meeting.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said this meeting will identify the timing and agenda of the next summit of Caspian littoral states to be held in Moscow. The meeting will end on July 20.
In November 2003, the Caspian countries signed the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea.
In July 1998 Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the delineation 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 delineation of the Caspian Sea.
Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Russia signed an agreement on the delineation of adjacent sections of the Caspian Sea on May 14, 2003.