Vladislav Grigoriev17:41, 21.07.26

Aliyev noted that the territory of Azerbaijan was used to hold this meeting without the knowledge of the government.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that a meeting of former senior officials from Germany and Russia took place in Baku in July. According to him, the officials discussed ways to end Russia’s war against Ukraine, writes Bloomberg .

“Our territory was used to hold such a meeting without our knowledge. I cannot comment on the details, as we were not present at this meeting. However, flight data allows me to assert that the secret meeting in Baku did take place,” Aliyev told reporters during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin.

The Azerbaijani president added that Baku can only welcome such initiatives if they are truly aimed at helping to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. He specified that the meeting took place on July 12-14.

Furthermore, during the press conference, Merz assured that his government had nothing to do with it. According to him, he knew nothing about any such meeting.

Earlier, media outlets reported that the unofficial German delegation included former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff Ronald Pofalla and former Brandenburg state governor Matthias Platzek. Journalists reported that the delegation met in the Azerbaijani capital with several associates of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.Read also:

Media outlets reported that the Russian delegation included Valery Fadeev, chairman of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, and Viktor Zubkov, chairman of the board of directors of Gazprom.

(c)UNIAN 2026