Lavrov: Any EU Decision On Caspian Sea, Unacceptable

Moscow, April 4, IRNA - Russian Foreign Minister Segei Lavrov said on Tuesday any decision on Caspian Sea and its related issues without considering the stance of its littoral states is unacceptable. Addressing Yerevan State University students, Lavrov said European Union's decision to exploit Caspian Sea and transfer Turkmenistan gas to Europe without taking into account the stances of Caspian littoral states is unacceptable. Pointing to Caspian Sea legal regime, Lavrov said the regime had been agreed upon in 1921 and 1940 by the then Soviet Union and Iran and after the collapse of the Union the negotiation process to set a new regime for the Sea has already started. a EU signed a contract with Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan to lay a 300-kilometer gas pipeline under Caspian Sea waters to transfer the region’s gas to Turkey and then to Europe while ignoring Iran and Russia. Iran and Russia as the two powerful Caspian Sea littoral countries are against the project./end