Preparations for the upcoming Sixth Caspian Summit in Ashgabat on June 29 and the final coordination of the issues on its agenda became the central topic of discussion at the meeting of the foreign ministers of the Caspian states, held today at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.

During the meeting, which preceded the five-sided talks at the top, the heads of the foreign ministries of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan also considered certain aspects of multifaceted cooperation in the Caspian Sea region, the progress in the practical implementation of the agreements reached earlier, topical issues of international life.

As is known, cooperation with neighboring states in the Caspian region, built on the balance of national and common interests, occupies a special place in the foreign policy strategy of Turkmenistan.

Recall that it was in Ashgabat in 1996 that a meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Caspian states was held, where the organizational and legal form of the negotiation mechanism for the formation of a legal framework for interaction in the Caspian region was determined - an agreement was reached on the creation of a Special Working Group.

Thus, Ashgabat went down in history as a city where a fundamentally new format of interaction on the Caspian issue was laid.

Negotiations of the top leadership of the coastal states at the "round table" made it possible to transfer the dialogue into the mainstream of reconciliation of mutual interests with maximum respect for each other's views and positions.

A noticeable intensification of contacts between the business circles of the five countries was the First Caspian Economic Forum, also held at the initiative of the Turkmen side in 2019. The results of its work on the whole give reason to believe that over time it will become a good practical platform for building up effective business partnerships in the Caspian Sea, improving trade and investment activities, and attracting private capital.

Considering that the Caspian Sea is a common property of the peoples living on its shores, ecology and environmental protection, the conservation of the biodiversity of a unique natural reservoir, and the rational use of its wealth are an important area of cooperation between the coastal states.

In this area, our country is systematically working at the national level, offering new approaches to solving existing and preventing possible environmental problems in the Caspian in close cooperation with its neighbors and key partners, as well as with authoritative international organizations.

Having ratified the main UN environmental conventions and being committed to fulfilling its obligations, Turkmenistan cooperates with the United Nations Environment Program, the Global Environment Facility and other specialized structures. It should also be noted the active participation of our state in the implementation of the Caspian Environmental Program.

In order to coordinate the activities of the relevant ministries and sectorial departments in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea, the successful implementation of the National Caspian Action Plan in the country, an Interdepartmental Commission on the Caspian Sea was created.

Every year on August 12 - the day the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea comes into force - in Turkmenistan, as well as in other Caspian states, the Day of the Caspian Sea is widely celebrated.

Close coordination is being carried out between the interstate and intergovernmental bodies established by the five coastal countries in the environmental sphere.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned major areas - security, economic cooperation and ecology in the Caspian region - will become the dominant topics of discussion at the upcoming Sixth Caspian Summit tomorrow.

The positive mood of the participants in the next five-sided summit, the general readiness to deepen traditionally friendly, good-neighborly relations, expand partnerships across the entire spectrum of the Caspian agenda allows us to speak of the undoubted success of the Summit, the decisions of which will directly contribute to the maximum realization of the enormous economic and resource potential of the Caspian Sea, securing him the status of a sea of peace, friendship and harmony.