Top Russian diplomat says environmental relevance of Caspian Sea issue is growing

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Russian foreign minister said on Thursday that the relevance of the issue of the Caspian Sea is growing, as he hosted an interdepartmental meeting with regional representatives on cooperation regarding water level and pollution.

“As practice shows, the relevance of the Caspian topic is growing today. It is regularly considered at various levels … both within the Russian Federation and within the framework of various international contacts,” Sergey Lavrov said in his opening remarks at the third meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission on Caspian Cooperation in Moscow.

Recalling that the topic of the Caspian Sea’s decreasing water levels was discussed in August by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, Lavrov said he would like to positively note the active work of the regions bordering the Caspian.

“They closely interact with the federal authorities. They are actively and interestedly working on organizing events on such topics, inviting representatives of other Caspian states to the meetings. We actively advocate for such an interregional level of interaction,” Lavrov said.

He further said a principle agreement was reached in September at the 16th BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan between the representatives of state television and radio corporations of the five Caspian Sea countries.

Lavrov noted that Russia is now expecting this initiative to be formalized with the support of all five countries.

Listing the past meetings on the issue of the Caspian Sea, Lavrov went on to say that the practice of such meetings, as well as contacts within Russia, on the sidelines of broader international events has proven itself well.

Various international organizations, including the UN, have reported dropping water levels and pollution in the Caspian Sea, which is surrounded by Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan.