Aliyev spoke about a secret meeting in Baku regarding ending the war in Ukraine
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated that a secret meeting was held in Baku this month to discuss possible ways to end Russia’s war against Ukraine. According to him, former high-ranking officials from Germany and Russia participated in the meeting.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev spoke about the talks during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin. He said that Azerbaijani territory was used to host this meeting without the knowledge of the Azerbaijani government.
“Our territory was used to host such a meeting without our knowledge,” Aliyev stated.
The Azerbaijani president noted that he could not comment on the content of the talks, as representatives of his country were not present.
“I cannot comment on the details, as we were not present at the meeting. However, flight records allow me to confirm that a secret meeting in Baku did indeed take place,” he said.
According to Bloomberg, the unofficial German delegation included Ronald Pofalla, former chief of staff to Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Matthias Platzeck, former prime minister of the federal state of Brandenburg.
The Russian side was reportedly represented by Valery Fadeev, chairman of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, and Viktor Zubkov, chairman of the board of Gazprom and former Russian Deputy Prime Minister.
According to Aliyev, the talks took place on July 12–14. He emphasized that if their goal was to help end the war between Russia and Ukraine, then such an initiative can only be welcomed.
“If this meeting was intended to help end the war between Russia and Ukraine, we can only welcome it,” said the Azerbaijani president.
At the same time, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that the German government had no involvement in these talks.
“I know nothing about such a meeting,” Merz replied when asked by journalists.
This was reported with reference to Bloomberg.
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