MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political correspondent Pyotr Goncharov) -Vladimir Putin has said that he was pleased with his historic visit to Iran, the first by a Russian head of state since 1943.
Speaking to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad before their bilateral meeting in the Sadabad Palace, he said: "I am glad with what we have done, and satisfied with the results."
The second Caspian summit was held in the same palace. This meeting of all five Caspian leaders - from Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan - has been largely successful, although it could well be described as a summit of postponed problems. Perhaps it succeeded because most problems could be put off fairly painlessly.
The summit adopted a final declaration, which will remain in effect until the Caspian Five pass a convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea. Though an interim document, the declaration contains some crucial provisions that are likely to be included in a permanent convention. At any rate, it would be strange if the two documents were to differ in any fundamental way.
The first point concerns Caspian resources. As the declaration states, only those countries with Caspian coastlines have sovereign rights over the sea and its resources. But this is not the main thing. The document stresses that "before the new legal status of the Caspian and its area is defined ... any shipping, fishing and sailing should be done exclusively under the flags of the Caspian nations."
Secondly, the declaration lays down that all the signatories "will under no circumstances allow their territories to be used by other countries for acts of aggression or other military actions against any of the signatories."
Russia and Iran have consistently pushed for the inclusion of these provisions not only in the declaration, but also in the convention. Therefore Moscow and Tehran can be congratulated on achieving some success.
At the same time, a number of key issues remain unresolved, though the sides defined them clearly and harshly - specifically the laying of trans-Caspian pipelines and delimitation of the surface and the seabed.
The issue of transporting energy resources and laying pipelines under the Caspian Sea has always been a point of contention between Russia, on the one hand, and Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, on the other. At the summit, if we are to believe the media, the Russian president simply demanded that major energy projects with environmental risks for the Caspian should be discussed with the Caspian Five and approved by consensus. "Environmental security must become a yardstick for measuring the safety of all projects, especially in the tapping and transporting of energy resources," Putin said.
Ecological problems and the sea's main organic wealth - Caspian sturgeon - were also addressed in the declaration. The sides recognized that the condition of the sea's natural environment and its sturgeon population "demands immediate measures" to prevent environmental damage. Clearly, Russia has gained an additional argument in support of its position regarding trans-Caspian pipelines.
As far as the delimitation of the seabed is concerned, the problem does not look intractable. Iran is the only country opposed to dividing the seabed in accordance with the length of coastlines - or, in other words, into national zones.
But Tehran seems to be in the mood for compromise. Iranian President Ahmadinejad might be said to have "outlined" the Iranian position on this issue, noting that Iran wanted Caspian energy resources to be used "for the benefit of all." This is a significant change of tone - previously Iran had demanded 20% of the seabed.
On delimitation, the sides mainly disagree about the width of zones -coastal, economic and otherwise.
The debate appears to have centered precisely on these problems, and it will continue to do so until the third summit. Their resolution will be the decisive factor in the adoption of a convention on the legal status of the Caspian.
As regards the meeting between the Russian and Iranian presidents, it deserves a special discussion. It remains only to say that the success of the five-nation summit was no doubt very important for the strengthening of mutual understanding between Russia and Iran.
Conversely, if the two leaders are able to successfully discuss issues such as Iran's nuclear program, it will go a long way towards five-sided Caspian cooperation.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
