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Caspian states to set up high-level group to implement Caspian Sea convention

The fifth Caspian summit will be held in Aktau on August 12

AKTAU /Kazakhstan/, August 11. /TASS/. The five Caspian littoral states (Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Azerbaijan) will set up a high-level group after the Aktau summit to implement the provisions of the Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said at the beginning of the ministerial meeting of the Caspian states.

"Today we will have to agree on the decisions by Council of Foreign Ministers, which will reflect further actions on the implementation of the convention," he said. "It is proposed in particular to set a high-level group under the supervision of the Foreign Ministries after the signing of the Convention and task it with beginning to work on the draft agreement on the methodology for establishing direct baselines as soon as possible."

"An agreement to this effect is enshrined in the draft Convention and the final communique of the upcoming summit," he added.

The fifth Caspian summit will be held in Aktau on August 12. It is expected that its principal result will be the signing of the Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea. The Caspian states’ foreign ministers gathered there in the run-up to the summit to discuss the completion of preparations for it.

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