Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan agreed Wednesday to divide up the northern and central parts of the resource-rich Caspian Sea among themselves after failing to reach an accord with their southern neighbors Iran and Turkmenistan. \"We\'ve drawn closer and closer to each other,\" Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Kairat Abuseitov said at a signing ceremony in Kazakhstan\'s second city Almaty. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia calculated their shares in proportion to the length of the five Caspian countries\' coastlines, giving Azerbaijan 18 percent, Russia 19 percent and Kazakhstan 27 percent, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Viktor Kalyuzhny said. Mehti Safari, Iran\'s special representative for the Caspian Sea, stood by his country\'s demand that each of the five countries get a 20-percent share. Safari, whose country has sided with Turkmenistan in the issue, also criticized the three-way deal, which Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia signed after concluding a series of bilateral accords between themselves. \"On the basis of our experts\' assessments, including historical data, the Iranian share should be 20 percent,\" Safari said at the close of the five-way talks, adding that \"some agreements can make matters more complicated.\" Iran and its isolated ex-Soviet neighbour Turkmenistan earlier concluded their own agreement signaling the start of work to delineate their mutual Caspian Sea border. The three-day negotiation round among the five Caspian states was aimed at solving an impasse created by the break-up of the Soviet Union which has hindered the Western investment and expertise needed to exploit the sea\'s vast untapped oil and gas reserves. (AFP)