Russia suggests forming Caspian Council with Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that the creation of the Caspian Council would help to increase the effectiveness of existing regional structures and help to build them into a single system.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said this in an article published in the International Life magazine, Vesti Kavkaza reports on September 20.

"It seems that it is advisable to build existing structures and mechanisms into a single regional system to increase their effectiveness. At the current stage, creating a flexible five-party forum - the Caspian Council is the best way to achieve this goal", the Russian Foreign Minister's article says.

Lavrov stressed that the Caspian Council would have to function without a secretariat and other bureaucratic superstructures.

According to the Russian minister, this idea was worked out in the "five countries format" at the expert level and was announced by Russia at the VI Caspian Summit.