Caspian Council Creation to Boost Regional States' Cooperation Effectiveness - Lavrov

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday that the creation of the Council of Caspian Sea littoral states could boost the effectiveness of cooperation in the region, including in the context of the formation of a multipolar world order.

"Today we can confidently assert that cooperation in the Caspian Sea has reached a high level, but additional efforts are required to improve the quality of the five-party interaction and strengthen its international legal framework. ... The creation of the Caspian Council, a forum for cooperation and dialogue without any bureaucratic schemes, could increase the effectiveness of our work," Lavrov said at a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Caspian littoral states, which was also attended by the top diplomats of Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

Lavrov added that the deepening of practical cooperation between the Caspian states was also relevant in a broader sense, in the context of the formation of a multipolar world order and "strengthening the positions of new centers of world development." The joint work of the Caspian countries makes a significant contribution to ensuring security, stability and sustainable development on the Eurasian continent, he added.

Lavrov also said that five Caspian Sea states, including Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran, are launching a platform for regular meetings of foreign ministers.

"Today's meeting is of a special nature. In fact, we are launching a new, regular ministerial dialogue, which will operate within the mandate agreed upon at the Ashgabat summit. This mandate, in particular, envisages consideration of issues related to the development of the five-party cooperation and improvement of its formats, elaboration of agreed measures to implement the decisions of the summits, preparation of their agenda and final documents," Lavrov said at the meeting.

The 6th Caspian Summit was held in Ashgabat in June 2022. Then, the five countries' leaders underlined the importance of continuous cooperation to preserve the unique status of the sea, collaboration in technology, economy, energy and other areas, as well as the role of regular meetings of the foreign ministers of the Caspian states where coordination issues are settled.

The Caspian Summits have been held since 2002 and are attended by the leaders of the five states surrounding the Caspian Sea. Between summits, contacts are maintained at the ministerial, embassy and other levels.

Speaking about the 3+3 South Caucasus regional dialogue platform which is taking shape recently, Moscow considers this format to be promising, Lavrov said.

"[Azerbaijani Presedent] Ilham Heydarovich Aliyev's initiative to form the so-called 3+3 regional platform: three South Caucasus countries and three of their neighbors is already taking shape. This is also a promising format, and I would be glad to hear your assessments of further steps in this direction," Lavrov said.

The format includes Russia, Iran, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia, although Tbilisi has so far refused to become a member of the platform.

The first meeting of the group took place in Moscow, in 2021 at the deputy ministers' level. It was attended by Russian, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Turkish representatives and the director general of the Iranian foreign office. The next group's encounter is expected to be held in Turkey in the first half of 2024.