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Russian ambassador to Azerbaijan: â€œCaspian security cooperation is a priority issueâ€ â€“ EXCLUSIVE

Russian ambassador to Azerbaijan: â€œCaspian security cooperation is a priority issueâ€ â€“ <font color=red>EXCLUSIVE</font>

24 October 2009 09:16 (UTC +04:00)

The ambassador said for the first time the sides discussed a concrete document, the draft agreement on the Caspian security in Baku. â€œThis round showed that the sides have great interest to the issue discussed at the meeting and are ready to find forms and directions of cooperation on the basis of their interests. I consider that we understood our positions more and it is a basic and important factor for final agreementâ€.

The ambassador expressed the position of his country on the issue of Caspian security. â€œRussia always considers that there are many elements of cooperation on the Caspian, including economic cooperation, protection of bio-resources and others. But security is a priority issueâ€.
The consultations held today showed that many countries think so because the question is about the protection of people from different natural disasters and undesirable conditions, terrorist attacks and kidnapping, as well as struggle against the illegal fishing. We are happy that other countries also agree with the Russian position that this is a priority. I hope that we will prepare good documentâ€.
Ambassador Dorokhin said the security agreement could positively impact on determination of legal status of the Caspian Sea. â€œThere are different ways to the legal status. Someone thinks that the status should be determined first, and other issues could be addressed later. There is logic that the cooperation becomes easy if everything is solved. But on the other hand, life flows with its course. There are different criminal cases, drug trafficking and other cases, which donâ€™t expect for legal status. Therefore there is another position that we have to gain some experience in cooperation to solve principal issues. I consider that the second idea is dominating now. The security experts held meeting today and there were efforts for the economic and transport cooperation. I think we will go aheadâ€.