UN secretary general welcomes signing of Convention on Legal Status of Caspian Sea

Baku, August 14, AZERTAC United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has hailed the signing of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea by Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan, the secretary general’s spokesman said in a statement, according to TASS. "This historic document demonstrates the importance of regional cooperation, which is vital for maintaining international peace and security," the statement reads. According to the statement, the UN secretary general "believes the Convention should prove invaluable in regulating a wide range of longstanding issues among the Caspian Sea littoral states and is a significant step in the easing of regional tensions." "The Secretary General takes this opportunity to congratulate the five signatory countries on this landmark achievement of regional cooperation and multilateralism," the spokesman concluded. The presidents of the five Caspian states (Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan) singed the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, which had been agreed on by the five states’ foreign ministers at their Moscow meeting in December 2017, at the Fifth Caspian summit held in Kazakhstan’s city of Aktau.