Former high-ranking officials from Germany and Russia met secretly in Azerbaijan to discuss ending the war in Ukraine
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managing editor
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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated that a secret meeting between former high-ranking officials from Germany and Russia took place this month in the country’s capital, Baku, during which they may have discussed ways to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Aliyev told reporters this in Berlin during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, according to Bloomberg.
According to him, the meeting took place without the knowledge of the Azerbaijani authorities.
"Our territory was used for such a meeting without our knowledge,"
Ilham Aliyev President of Azerbaijan
He added that he could not disclose details of the talks, as Azerbaijani representatives were not present. At the same time, flight data, according to the president, confirms that a secret meeting took place in Baku.
As reported by the media, the unofficial German delegation included Ronald Pofalla, former head of the German Federal Chancellery, and Matthias Platzeck, former prime minister of the federal state of Brandenburg.
On the Russian side, according to media reports, the meeting was attended by Valery Fadeev, chairman of the Presidential Council on Human Rights, and Viktor Zubkov, former Russian Deputy Prime Minister and current chairman of Gazprom’s board of directors.
Aliyev noted that the meeting took place on July 12–14.
If this meeting was aimed at helping to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, we can only welcome it
Ilham Aliyev President of Azerbaijan
At the same time, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that his government was not involved in these talks.
I am not aware of any such meeting
Friedrich Merz Chancellor of Germany
As a reminder, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy heard a report from Major General Yevhen Khmara on the plan for long-range and medium-range sanctions, as well as on the results of the work carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine and the “Alpha” Special Operations Center on the front lines. According to the head of state, he approved a 40-day operation by the SBU to exert influence on the aggressor state in order to compel Russia to end the war.
Author
Iryna Mazipchuk managing editor
All materialsShe studied at the School of Journalism at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. She has been working in journalism since 2011. She has worked for the television channels Channel 5, PravdaTUT, STB and ZIK.