​Russian MFA: Moscow opposes division of Caspian Sea into sectors

Baku. 23 September. REPORT.AZ/ Russia opposes the division of the Caspian Sea into national sectors of coastal states. Report informs citing RIA Novosti, this was stated by the special representative of the President of Russia on the delimitation and demarcation of the state border with the neighboring countries-participants of the CIS, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Minister Igor Bratchikov at a press conference in Moscow.

"The Russian side does not adhere to the viewpoint of the division of the Caspian Sea into the sectors," Bratchikov stated.

The diplomat said that the Russian side from the very beginning, in principle, opposed the division of the Caspian Sea. But then Moscow has agreed to build the Caspian so-called national zones, covering an area of about 25 miles from the coast.

"I would like to emphasize that these national belts saved the total water space. Russia does not supports the division of the Caspian sea into sectors," Bratchikov said.

The question of the legal status of the Caspian Sea actualized after the collapse of the USSR, when the emergence of new subjects of international law - states of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan - raised the question of the delimitation of the Caspian Sea among the five countries.

The complexity of determining the status of the Caspian Sea is related, in particular, to its recognition as a lake or sea, a distinction of which is governed by different provisions of international law.