The first meeting of the High Level Working Group on the Implementation of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea with the participation of representatives of the Caspian states has opened in Baku today.
A number of issues arising from the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, as well as the results of the 5th Summit of the heads of the Caspian littoral States in Aktau, are expected to be discussed at the meeting, the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza reported.
Opening the meeting, the head of the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan, representative of Azerbaijan in the High-Level Working Group for the Caspian Sea Khalaf Khalafov noted that the sides continue their work after the summit.
He noted that friendly relations have been established between the countries of the Caspian region, they all respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of each other.
Khalafov stressed that following the fifth Caspian summit, a historical document was signed "The signing of this document contributed to the further development of relations between the Caspian countries. Maintaining legal status is the main goal," he said.
According to Khalafov, today procedural rules will be approved and how this group will function in the future, as well as how it should be ratified. In addition, the parties will discuss the method of establishing direct baselines in the Caspian Sea.
Ambassador at Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Igor Bratchikov said he hopes the next meeting of the High Level Working Group on the Caspian Sea will be held in the coming months.
"First of all, we need to discuss the implementation of the decisions agreed at the 5th Caspian Summit and discuss in general terms the method of establishing direct baselines. The parties will also have to agree on rules for the working group activities. The working group was established not for a year, but for the entire duration of the Convention. Therefore, the rhythm of the working group's activities for decades and beyond depends on how we work out these rules," the Russian diplomat stressed.
The rest of the meeting was held behind closed doors.
