Caspian Sea - the battle field of different interests

As it is known Russia is against laying pipelines in the Caspian Sea bed. This position was announced by Russia’s ambassador to Azerbaijan Dorokhin, while US ambassador to Azerbaijan Methew Bryza responded on June 11 to the statement mentioning that Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan are sovereign states that can decide themselves when and how to build pipelines. Last November, the Turkmen President stated that the laying of a pipeline is the business of those two countries only and they will decide themselves on what action to take. Iran, as well as Russia, is firmly against the proposed construction. It is obvious that Russia is very much concerned and upset by the prospects of laying a pipeline on the Caspian sea bed as this would enable the development of an alternative route to Russia for supplying European countries with their energy needs.