The summit of the heads of states along the Caspian Sea was held in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan. The leaders of the meeting exchanged views on cooperation in various fields of the Caspian Sea and international and regional issues of common concern. After the meeting, the leaders of the five countries along the Caspian Sea issued a joint communiqué on the security of the Caspian Sea region. The summit was chaired by Turkmenistan President Shcherdar Berdymukhamedov and attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Aliyev, Kazakhstani President Tokayev and Iranian President Raisi.

Putin said at the summit that Russia has always advocated deepening the partnership between the five Caspian countries in the political, security, economic, environmental and humanitarian fields, and the premise of ensuring regional prosperity is that all parties should strictly abide by the principles of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea. .

Putin pointed out that the trade volume between Russia and the countries along the Caspian Sea is growing. By 2021, the trade volume will increase by more than one-third to US$34 billion. He said that the five countries along the Caspian Sea have great opportunities for cooperation in the energy field, and the agreement on the joint development of oil and gas fields in the Caspian Sea has been implemented. This makes it possible to rationally and effectively utilize the natural resources of the Caspian Sea while respecting the interests of all parties.

In addition, Putin said that Russia will work to establish a transportation and logistics hub in the Caspian Sea region. Putin said that countries along the coast should take practical measures to optimize the regional transportation and logistics system. In this regard, the "North-South" intermodal trade corridor should be built first. Putin said that the transport corridor is 7,200 kilometers long and will connect St. Petersburg with ports in Iran and India. The completion and commissioning of the transportation corridor will further promote the cooperation between the countries of the Caspian Sea region in the field of transportation.

In this regard, Tokayev pointed out in his speech that Kazakhstan is also concerned about the development of the "North-South" transport corridor. As part of the "North-South" transport corridor plan, the "Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran" railway line will be the shortest route between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf. Tokayev believes that the Caspian Sea is not only rich in mineral resources, but also a sea of unlimited opportunities. He called on the countries along the Caspian Sea to strengthen cooperation and make full use of the potential of the Caspian Sea.

Transport connectivity is emerging as a key factor for sustainable economic growth and for strengthening economic ties between countries. Tokayev said that if traditional logistics networks are disrupted, mutual transport will become an important factor for sustainable development and strengthening of economic ties between countries. He believes that the Trans-Caspian International Shipping Line has played an important role in ensuring the smooth flow of transit traffic between Europe, Central Asia and China

To strengthen trade between each other, Tokayev also sees the need to develop a modern logistics infrastructure. In response, he proposed the creation of a national food hub on the Caspian Sea. This will help reduce costs and increase trade volumes.

After the meeting, the leaders of the five countries along the Caspian Sea issued a joint communiqué on the security of the Caspian Sea region. The communique pointed out that all the countries along the Caspian Sea should ensure the security and stability of the region, ensure the balance of national armaments in the region, and the military development of each country should take into account the interests of all littoral countries without compromising each other's security. The Caspian littoral countries should prohibit armed forces that are not part of the littoral countries from appearing in the Caspian Sea area, and the Caspian littoral countries should not open their territories to third countries to support military operations against other littoral countries.Editor/XingWentao