Updated 4:48 p.m. Moscow Time
MOSCOW, September 29 (RIA Novosti) – Any military activity in the Caspian Sea region should be based on principles of equal security for all the five states in the region, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said Monday.
"We think that the presence of military forces and military activities should be carried out on the basis of principle of equal security for all Caspian states," Aliyev said.
According to Aliyev, this will foster trust between the states of the Caspian region.
"Caspian Sea should remain the zone of peace, friendship and good-neighborliness," Aliyev noted.
The 4th Caspian Summit between the Presidents of Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan is being held in Astrakhan, southern Russia, on September 29.
Last week, a Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said that the five Caspian Sea littoral states had agreed to prevent the military presence of foreign states in the region, and that such a political statement was prepared for the Summit.
Earlier on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the five countries bordering the Caspian Sea had agreed on a joint statement to outline future agreements on cooperation in the region. The sides also decided to hold five-party emergency services exercises in 2016.
