RUSSIA AND KAZAKHSTAN TO CONTEMPLATE JOINT STATEMENT OF UPCOMING CASPIAN SUMMIT








MOSCOW, March 13, 2001. /From RIA Novosti correspondent/. The second round of Russian-Kazakh talks about the Caspian Sea begins in Astana Tuesday afternoon, with the main part of the discussion scheduled for Wednesday, reports the office of Russian deputy Foreign Minister and presidential envoy for the Caspian Viktor Kalyuzhny, who heads the Russian delegation at the talks.


	Apart from discussing "the entire scope of Caspian-related problems," the sides will contemplate a joint statement that will later be signed at a summit meeting of Caspian states, which is due in mid-April in Turkmenistan. The joint statement was drafted at a January meeting of working groups for the Caspian, which was held in Tehran at the level of deputy foreign ministers. At the moment, the sides are discussing the draft "in the format of bilateral meetings." Talks will also focus on controversial details related to the identity of several localities on the northern shelf of the Caspian, including three islands that might go to either Russia or Kazakhstan.