Experts from five countries to discuss preparations for the upcoming summit of the heads of the Caspian states in Astana
The working meeting of experts of the Caspian states will be held in Astana on June 18-19, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tleuberdi told reporters June 12, TASS reports. This meeting will serve as preparation for the upcoming summit of the heads of the Caspian states, which is planned to be held in August this year in Aktau. The exact date is not yet known. The decision to hold the summit in Aktau, not in Astana, as previously planned, was made due to the fact that “the last two summits were held in Baku and Astrakhan, and accordingly, we also decided that the summit should take place on the Caspian coast,” the vice-minister explained. The agenda of the summit is to discuss cooperation in the Caspian Sea, and it is expected to sign several agreements on transport, trade and economic relations. The draft Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea will be presented to the presidents of the Caspian countries. The leaders of the five countries met for the first time in 2002 in Ashgabat. The second Caspian summit was held in Tehran in 2007, the third – in Baku in 2010, and the fourth – in Astrakhan in 2014.
