Caspian summit opens in Baku

The leaders of the five Caspian Sea nations – Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan – are meeting in the Azeri capital Baku with regional economic cooperation and the legal status of the Caspian Sea atop the summit’s agenda.

Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev will hold a number of bilateral talks with his Caspian counterparts, including the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Russian-Iranian relations have been strained over Moscow’s backing of the June UN Security Council resolution on new sanctions against Tehran and its subsequent refusal to supply S-300 missiles and other military hardware to Iran.

Earlier, Tehran announced it was ready to resume talks about its nuclear program with the international community but no date or venue has yet been set.