Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The United States announced that Caspian littoral states' decision on giving the right holding armed forces on the Caspian Sea to only the coastal countries has no impact on cooperation between Baku and Washington.

U.S. State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki said joint statement of the Heads of States of the Caspian littoral countries signed at the summit, which states that the right to stay on the Caspian Sea belongs exclusively to armed forces of coastal countries will not affect the cooperation between the two countries.

"We have seen the joint statement issued by the Caspian Five that, among other things, calls for the non-presence of armed forces in the Caspian Sea not belonging to one of the Caspian Five countries," Psaki said.

She noted that the U.S. maintains a strong security cooperation relationship with Azerbaijan, focusing on border security, counter-terrorism, NATO interoperability, and its capacity to contribute peacekeepers to international missions.

"We do not anticipate the Caspian Five joint statement will change that," Psaki said.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov signed a joint statement September 29 in Astrakhan within the framework of the fourth Summit of the heads of Caspian littoral states.