ASTRAKHAN. Aug 16 (Interfax-AVN) - The Caspian Sea exercises have convincingly demonstrated that Russia has forces in the region that are capable of defending the country's interests, but which do not pose any danger to Caspian states, Andrei Urnov, the Russian Foreign Ministry's special envoy and head of a working group for the Caspian Sea, has said.
"From the point of view of diplomacy, the exercises have been a success," he told journalists in Astrakhan on Friday.
The high-ranking diplomat said the exercises themselves "will help strengthen stability in the Caspian region." "As for other countries, not all of them were satisfied with the Russian exercises on the Caspian Sea. There are some political circles that would like to see a weak Russia. We should not take them into account. On the whole, the response to these exercises was positive," Urnov said.
Asked whether the exercises can help speed up negotiations on the Caspian Sea status, he said that "interests of the five Caspian nations are concentrated here, and each of them has a right to veto."
"That is why alongside with drafting the convention that defines the Caspian Sea status, Russian diplomats are trying to promote its passing by working in separate directions. Russia has already made a new proposal concerning establishment of a 15-mile coastal zone instead of the current 10-mile zone for all Caspian nations. The zone will be under national jurisdiction, and each nation will have an exclusive right to use natural resources," Urnov said.
The leader of the exercises, Caspian Flotilla Commander Vice Admiral Vladimir Masorin, said he was satisfied that "for the first time in many years we pooled efforts of the law-enforcement component of both the Southern federal district and Caspian states such as Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan in accomplishment of assigned missions."
"The presence of observers from foreign nations was also very important for us, because it only promotes trust. We demonstrated a lot, and foreigners present at the exercises made sure that there was no aggression on behalf of Russia," Masorin told reporters.