He said that negotiations on the remaining issues continue.

“We expect them to be fully agreed upon until the next summit of heads of Caspian states in Astana,” Khalafov said.

He noted that the working group has to solve these issues before the meeting of foreign ministers.

“We’re thinking of accomplishing all the open issues prior to the meeting in order to be able to finish the draft convention on the Caspian legal status and submit it to the heads of state prior to the summit,” Khalafov said. “A lot has been done. There is a common understanding on all the conceptual issues. A few details remain. The most essential of them has to do with principles of division,” he said.

According to him, the next meeting of the working group will take place in the last ten days of January, either in Ashgabat or in Baku. “We’re currently making clarifications,” he added.

The deputy minister said that in connection with the Caspian Sea’s legal status there are some issues that need to be addressed on both bilateral and multilateral level.

“Multilateral issues are mostly discussed within the framework of the Convention while bilateral issues are related to the seabed division,” Khalafov said.

He added that Azerbaijan has long ago solved the bilateral issues with Russia and Kazakhstan and is currently negotiating with Turkmenistan and Iran in this regard.

“We approach the issue not in the context of disagreement on issues related to any oil field, but mainly in the context of a final decision on the seabed division,” he said.

The seabed of the Caspian Sea is divided into sectors, Khalafov said, noting that this issue should be fixed under contracts to be signed with Turkmenistan and Iran separately.

“The issue of division is based on certain principles. To determine the dividing line coordinates should be specified on the basis of agreed principles,” he added.

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