According to the "People's Daily" report, on August 12th, the 5th Caspian Sea National Leaders' Meeting was held in Aktau, the western city of Kazakhstan. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Aliyev, Iranian President Rohani and Turkmen President Berdymukhamedov attended the meeting and signed the Caspian Convention on Legal Status. It laid the legal foundation for resource development and related cooperation in the waters.

The Caspian Sea is located at the junction of Eurasia and covers an area of about 370,000 square kilometers. The sea floor is rich in oil and natural gas resources. Over the years, the countries along the Caspian Sea have negotiated on the legal status of the Caspian Sea and how to divide the oil and gas resources in the Caspian Sea. However, due to the great differences between the parties, no agreement has been reached.

According to the convention signed at this meeting, the Caspian Sea is neither defined as a sea nor defined as a lake. The 15 nautical miles of waters stretched out of the coastline of the Caspian Sea are the territorial waters of the country. The waters that extend 10 nautical miles from the territorial waters are the exclusive fishing areas of the country. The other water bodies and the fishery resources of these water bodies will be jointly owned by the five countries along the Caspian Sea. The Convention does not provide clear provisions for the submarine oil and gas resources segmentation, but emphasizes that the Caspian Seabed resources are divided by neighboring countries through negotiations in accordance with the norms of international law. The Convention also stipulates that the Caspian State has the right to lay oil and gas pipelines on the bottom of the Caspian Sea, but it must obtain the consent of the Caspian Sea and meet the environmental requirements.

Putin said that this meeting is a milestone for all Caspian countries. Rohani pointed out that the resolutions of the conference fully considered the interests of the five coastal countries. Nazarbayev spoke highly of this meeting and called the Caspian Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea as the "Caspian Constitution". He also pointed out that the Convention fully considers the realistic needs of political stability in coastal countries and promotes the development of the Caspian Sea region. The practical issues of protecting the natural resources of the region have further clarified the rights and obligations of all countries.