Russia Opposes Laying Of Transcaspian Underwater Pipelines

The 9th international seminar on problems of the Caspian region has opened in Teheran. It is attended by foreign ministerial representatives of the Caspian states, as well as over 100 scientists, experts and diplomats from different countries. Russia is represented by deputy foreign minister Viktor Kalyuzhny. Taking the floor at the opening of the seminar, Viktor Kalyuzhny noted that some more time will be required for elaborating a new legal status of the Caspian. But no haste must be made here, he warned. "We have to lay a strong basis for the expansion of mutually beneficial cooperation between all the Caspian countries", he said. Kalyuzhny also declared that Russia objects against the building of trans-Caspian underwater pipelines without a thorough consideration of technicalities that can guarantee preservation of the Caspian inner-sea ecosystem.