Moscow to host ministerial meeting of Caspian littoral states

According to a statement released by Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday, the seventh meeting of the Caspian littoral states will be held in Moscow on Monday and Tuesday.

"Foreign ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan will come together for the seventh time to hold talks on the text of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea,” says the statement.

"The ministers’ attention will be focused on the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, as well as on documents regulating five-way cooperation in the Caspian in various fields, including the economy, transport, military navigation, anti-poaching, safety of navigation and several others,” the statement reads.

According to the statement, the five foreign ministers will discuss the latest regional and international issues. The main task of the meeting is to prepare for the Fifth Caspian Summit in Kazakhstan.

"Russia highly appreciates the traditionally confidential, friendly nature of the dialogue within the framework of the Caspian Five and consider the speedy exit to the agreed text of the Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea and the further expansion of mutually beneficial contacts of neighboring countries across the Caspian Sea as a priority,” the statement concluded.

The previous meetings of the Caspian Sea heads of states were held in 2002 in Ashgabat, 2007 in Tehran, 2010 in Baku and 2014 in Astrakhan. Kazakhstan's Astana will host the fifth Caspian summit in 2017.