A foreign ministerial meeting of Caspian Sea states will be held in Astana July 12-13. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made the statement at a press briefing on Thursday. "Such a ministerial meeting will be held for the sixth time," TASS quoted Zakharova as saying. "Among the matters on the agenda is the legal status of the sea." Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan are the five littoral states of the resource-rich Caspian Sea which have been in talks since 1991 to create a legal regime to determine their territorial rights. So far the negotiations have not produced the desired results.
