The ninth meeting of the High-Level Working Group on the Caspian Sea (HLWG) was held in Astana on October 22-23.

The negotiations were attended by delegations from the Republic of Azerbaijan (headed by Samir Sharifov), the Islamic Republic of Iran (headed by Alireza Jahangiri), the Republic of Kazakhstan (headed by Zulfiya Amanzholova), the Russian Federation (headed by Mikhail Petrakov) and Turkmenistan (headed by Murat Atajanov).

The parties continued to discuss the methodology for establishing direct baselines on the Caspian Sea.

As part of the meeting, the parties reviewed cooperation in the Caspian Sea, discussed issues of preparing for the next meeting of the Caspian states' foreign ministers in Turkmenistan, as well as the progress of the negotiation process on the draft five-party documents.

The next meeting of the HLWG will be held in Turkmenistan at the time agreed upon through diplomatic channels, according to the communiqué following the meeting.

ORIENT news