Text of Convention on Legal Status of Caspian Sea practically ready - Lavrov

MOSCOW, December 5. /TASS/. The text of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea is practically ready, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday after a meeting of top diplomats of the Caspian littoral states, namely Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. "We discussed in detail the Caspian current agenda, with a focus on the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea. I am pleased to tell that we have found solutions to all outstanding key issues linked with this document. The text of the convention is practically ready," he said. "The text will now be edited and translated into the national languages. And then, each of our countries will carry out domestic procedures to prepare for the signing of this convention by the leaders," Lavrov said, adding that the signing ceremony is to take place at a summit meeting of the Caspian nations’ leaders in 2018. "It will be done at the Fifth Caspian summit due to be held in Kazakhstan next year. We hope it will take place in first half of the year. Anyway, it is up to Kazakhstan to decide about the dates. It will be done as soon as it is clear that all technical and legal aspects of the work on the text are over," he said. Read more