Russia ratifies deal on legal status of Caspian Sea

By Dmitri Chirciu

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian President signed Tuesday a law on the ratification of an agreement on the legal status of the Caspian Sea.

Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan, the five Caspian littoral states reached a deal on Aug.12, 2018 on the legal status of the resource-rich sea.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Kazakhstan's founding President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met in the Kazakh city of Aktau for the Fifth Caspian Summit.

The summit mainly focused on the legal status of the Caspian Sea.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Caspian littoral states started negotiations over the legal status of the sea. But wide divisions between these countries created a deadlock, preventing the sharing of the sea’s rich hydrocarbon resources.

According to the agreement, an area of 15 nautical miles from the coast will be regarded as each respective country's territory.

Fishing zones are to be delimited 25 nautical miles from each country's coast.

The remaining parts will be neutral zones open to common use.

The bottom of the Caspian Sea will be divided among the littoral states.

The agreement also included the principles of preservation of a military balance, the protection of biological resources and navigation safety.

It will imply equal rights for all littoral states.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz