"Unilateral actions in the construction of the [Trans-Caspian gas pipeline] could lead to mistrust among countries in the Caspian Sea region. It’s not excluded that this is what lobbyists from outside the region are trying to do by offering themselves to be ‘strategic partners’ and promising all kinds of political dividends to the parties of the pipeline," Lukashevich said on the Foreign Ministry’s website.
The Trans-Caspian pipeline, which connects Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, is needed so as to connect up with the Southern Gas Corridor, along which gas from the Caspian Sea region would be delivered to Europe bypassing Russia.
He added that ecology of the fragile Caspian Sea should be taken into consideration primarily.
Russia and Iran insist on obtaining consent from all Caspian states in order to build an underwater pipeline there.
