AVAZA (Xinhua) — Russia will soon ratify the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea signed by Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan last year, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Monday.

“The signing of the convention was, without exaggeration, a historic event ... This was our common success, a confirmation that we can find mutually beneficial solutions”, Medvedev said at the first Caspian Economic Forum held in the Caspian resort of Avaza in Turkmenistan.

For Medvedev, the convention respects every party’s interests and enshrines the equal share of rights to use the natural resources of the Caspian Sea and the common responsibility for its fate.

The convention was signed by the five countries on Aug. 12, 2018 following more than two decades of negotiations. The document establishes the boundaries of territorial waters and fishing zones, the division of the bottom and subsoil of the Caspian Sea, the conditions for laying underwater cables and pipelines, and other aspects of cooperation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin presented the convention for ratification to the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, in July.