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Caspian states leaders to sign Convention on legal status of Caspian Sea — Kremlin

Vladimir Putin is expected to visit Kazakhstan’s city of Aktau on August 12 to take part in the Fifth Caspian Summit

MOSCOW, August 10. /TASS/. The leaders of the five Caspian states will sign the Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea at their summit in Kazakhstan’s Aktau on August 12, the Kremlin press service said in a statement.

"The signing of the Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea, the work on which was underway since 1996, will be the focus of the summit," the statement reads.

According to the Kremlin press service, Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Kazakhstan’s city of Aktau on August 12 in order to participate in the Fifth Caspian Summit. The presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan are expected to consider the key aspects of cooperation in the Caspian region and discuss the implementation of the decisions made at their previous meetings. In addition, a number of intergovernmental agreements between the five countries will also be signed at the summit.

Caspian summit

The legal status of the Caspian Sea remains the key issue discussed at the regional countries’ summits.

The five countries’ leaders held their first meeting in Turkmenistan’s capital of Ashgabat in 2002. The second Caspian summit was held in the Iranian capital of Tehran in 2007, while Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku hosted the third summit in 2010, and Russia’s Astrakhan hosted the fourth summit in 2014.