The tenth session of the working group at the level of deputy foreign ministers of the Caspian littoral states, starting on 22 July in Moscow ended today.

At the session, dedicated to discussions of the draft of Convention on legal status of the Caspian, the interested sides achieved certain progress, on which was stated at the news conference with the participation of the special representative of the Russian President on the Caspian legal issues and representatives of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Iran.

It was noted that despite of numerous disputes, the sides agreed many points of the draft Convention. In the course of the discussions, were also touched upon the problems of shipping, fishing, use of bio-resources, security provision of the Caspian and a number of other issues of mutual interest.

The participants adopted a final joint declaration, whereby it is stated that the delegations positively assessed the conclusions of the Moscow meeting. The sides also stressed that the talks passed in good neighboring and constructive atmosphere, taking into consideration all proposals of the littoral countries.

The next session is to be held on 8-9 September in Ashgabad.