Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has confirmed that former senior German and Russian officials held a secret meeting in Baku earlier this month to discuss possible ways to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Speaking alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin on Tuesday, Aliyev said Azerbaijani authorities became aware of the talks only after reviewing flight records.
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“Our territory was used for such a meeting without our knowledge,” Aliyev told reporters, according to Bloomberg.
“I cannot comment on the details, as we were not present at the meeting. However, the flight data allows me to state that a secret meeting did take place in Baku.”
According to media reports, the unofficial German delegation included Ronald Pofalla, former chief of staff to ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Matthias Platzeck, the former premier of the state of Brandenburg.
The Russian delegation reportedly included Valery Fadeyev, head of President Vladimir Putin’s Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, and Viktor Zubkov, a former Russian prime minister and current chairman of the state-controlled energy giant Gazprom.
Aliyev said the talks took place between July 12 and 14.
“If this meeting was intended to contribute to ending the war between Russia and Ukraine, we can only welcome that,” he said.
However, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz distanced his government from the reported discussions.
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“I’m not aware of any such meeting,” Merz said when asked about the reports.
Neither the participants nor the purpose of the meeting have been officially confirmed by Germany or Russia beyond Aliyev’s remarks.
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