MOSCOW, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Russia and some of its Caspian neighbors may create a new military contingent that will be stationed in the region to keep in check security threats, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told reporters Saturday.
The minister added that Kazakh troops would most likely join their Russian counterparts in the multi-national force with the door open to all other parties wishing to join. No details were available on the potential number of troops that could be deployed under the plan.
"The threats that exist in the region are real and dictate the necessity of interaction with our Caspian neighbors," Ivanov said.
He spoke in Russia's southern province of Dagestan where he had arrived Friday to oversee the second stage of the biggest naval exercise in the Caspian Sea in years.
Over 10,000 Russian seamen, 60 warships and 30 fighter planes and helicopters have been involved in the exercise, launched Aug. 1.
Ex-Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are participating in the exercise but Turkmenistan rejected the offer. Iran has sent observers. The exercise will end Thursday.
The exercises are officially described as anti-terrorist and anti-narcotics maneuvers. Military analysts regard them as part of Russia's long-term strategy to revamp its armed forces that have been largely neglected over the last decade by the government of former President Boris Yeltsin.
But their location can hardly be lost on Russia's four Caspian states, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Iran. The world's largest inland sea overlays what geologists believe are petroleum deposits that could rival those of Saudi Arabia and its oil-producing neighbors.
On Saturday, Ivanov also attended the opening ceremony of a new ferry route linking Dagestan -- an autonomous region in the Russian Federation on the western shores of the Caspian Sea -- and its capital, Makhachkala, with the Turkmen port of Turkmenbashi.
At the ceremony, Ivanov was joined by Dagestan's State Council head Magomedali Magomedaliyev and Russia's Border Guard Service director Konstantin Totsky.
The event was staged to send a clear message that Russia was in full control of its maritime borders in the Caspian as the navy demonstrated the vessel's capabilities to meet highest military demands.
The ferry can take on board 200 seamen and up to 60 pieces of military equipment and vehicles, ORT television network reported.
In peacetime, the vessel will be used to ship train cars and other goods from Russia to Turkmenistan, as well as for deliveries of oil and gas in the opposite direction.
The new shipping route will thus provide for direct deliveries of Turkmenistan's oil and gas to Russia, bypassing Azerbaijan and Georgia.
So far, there was only one other major ferry route in the Caspian Sea linking Turkmenbashi with the Azeri capital, Baku.
In the future, Russia plans to launch another major ferry route connecting Makhachkala and the Kazakh port of Aktau, ORT reported.
Despite the high profile of the exercises, Russian officials insist that the training effort is not aiming to intimidate third parties.
"The exercise shouldn't be regarded as Russia's demonstration of force," Ivanov said Thursday.
He explained that a host of unsolved problems exist in the region, including stability threats, terrorism, fish poaching, ecological threats, etc.
"If the situation in the Caspian gets more complicated, the state should be ready to decisively and swiftly strike with its military might all those whom peace doesn't suit," he concluded.
Russia and its four neighbors have held for months extensive negotiations to reach a deal to divide the Caspian Sea.
Moscow signed bilateral deals with Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, agreeing that each country should receive the portion of the sea equal to its shoreline.
Iran and Turkmenistan have so far stalled the negotiations insisting that the Caspian be divided into five equal sections.
