Caspian Summit to happen this autumn

Russia has confirmed that the leaders of the five countries bordering the Caspian Sea are to meet for their first ever summit this autumn.

The Russian presidential envoy to the Caspian states, Viktor Kalyuzhny, was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying the meeting would take place between Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan in the town of Turkmenbashi in Turkmenistan.

Despite years of discussion, the five countries which surround the Caspian have failed to agree on how to share its vast natural oil and gas resources.

Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakstan want to divide the seabed into national sectors, based on international borders.

Iran opposes this, wanting the sea equally divided between the five states.

This would give Tehran a proportionally larger share.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service