Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents sign agreement on Caspian Sea bottom division

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Geidar Aliyev have signed an agreement on the Caspian Sea bottom division in the Kremlin Monday.

According to the agreement, the Caspian Sea bottom and its resources are divided between Russia and Azerbaijan on the basis of the middle line drawn taking into account equal distance and universally recognized principles of international law and Caspian practice, RIA Novosti reports.

Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized in his speech after the talks and the signing ceremony that the signing of the agreement on the Caspian Sea bottom division was the key issue on the agenda of Geidar Aliyev's visit to Moscow.

According to Vladimir Putin, taking into account agreements signed between Russia and Kazakhstan, as well as agreements between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, "we can say now for sure that cooperation between our countries in mineral resources extraction in the contiguous areas of the Caspian Sea bottom has acquired a solid international legal basis".

Russian President is sure that a formula "divide the bottom, share the water" will lead to mutually beneficial solution of the Caspian issue and interests of all Transcaspian states will be taken into account.