Continuing border skirmishes and incidents have hampered efforts to officially demarcate the border between the countries. Concern is growing about the stability of the late 2020 Moscow-negotiated armistice.

Ukraine’s GDP grew by 6 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, the Economy Ministry said, reversing five consecutive quarters of negative growth.

The reality is none of the three countries are formal candidates for EU membership in the near future.

The Caspian delicacy is known worldwide and supplied to Europe’s royal courts and Michelin-starred restaurants. But overfishing, and lack of regulation, brought it to the brink of disappearing.

At present, upstream operations in the Caspian Sea mainly use electricity generated from natural gas.