"We have confirmed today at a political level that there is a general readiness to move to the signing of the Convention in Astana at the heads of state summit next year," Erlan Idrissov told reporters.
He added that the exact timing of the summit was yet difficult to determine as it would depend on the progress made on certain outstanding issues "that require harmonization and further negotiations."
The question of defining the legal status of the Caspian Sea arose after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the emergence of new independent states, namely Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, necessitated the demarcation of the area among the five countries that border it.
The difficulty in determining the status of the Caspian Sea is linked to its recognition as a lake or a sea — a distinction which is governed by different provisions of international law.
