The European Union expects to sign the final deal on the construction of the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, as stated at the meeting of 27 EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg today, RIA Novosti reports.
The pipeline will become an essential part of the Southern Gas Corridor to deliver gas from Middle Asia to Europe. The unresolved status of the Caspian Sea drags the process.
Russia and Iran say that the construction of the pipeline needs approval of all Caspian states. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan say that states may reach deals bilaterally, because the pipeline will only run through two states.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the Russia-EU summit that Moscow would not call such deals legitimate, unless all five states reach a consensus. The EU cannot deny this aspect, Russian Presidential Assistant Yuri Ushakov said.
Victor Kalyuzhny, former Russian Minister for Fuel and Energy and former presidential envoy for settlement of the Caspian Sea status, told Vestnik Kavkaza that the area has high seismological risks.
Moscow held the Caspian Dialogue-2012 forum. A specialist of the Institute for Ocean Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences said that construction of the pipeline would be very risky. An accident could threaten the whole ecological system of the Caspian Sea, should the pipeline break.
