Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev confirmed that former high-ranking German officials and representatives of the Russian government were in Baku at the same time on July 12–14, which, according to him, suggests that a secret German-Russian meeting took place.

Aliyev made this statement on Tuesday during a joint press conference with German Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin, according to a Ukrinform correspondent.

“Regarding the aforementioned meeting that took place in Baku, I can say only one thing: we learned about it from The Times. We also had no information on this matter. But The Times is a reputable publication, so we verified this information. Yesterday, before my trip to Berlin, I received information from the State Border Service of Azerbaijan regarding whether the individuals mentioned in *The Times* were in Azerbaijan at the same time or not. I can tell you: yes, this information has been confirmed,” Aliyev said.

He added that on July 12, two people arrived on a flight from Berlin to Baku—“one was the former head of the Federal Chancellor’s Office, Mr. Pofalla, and the other was Mr. Platzeck.”

According to him, the former head of the Federal Chancellor’s Office, Ronald Pofalla, and the former Prime Minister of the State of Brandenburg, Matthias Platzeck, returned from Baku to Berlin on July 14.

At the same time, as Aliyev noted, on July 12, former Russian Prime Minister and current Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gazprom Viktor Zubkov and Valery Fadeev, Chairman of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, arrived in Baku from Moscow. One of them returned to Moscow on July 13, and the other on July 14.

“We have not received any information about this from either Russia or Germany. Our territory was used for such a meeting without our knowledge. I also cannot comment on it, since we did not participate in it. But this information about the flights gives me reason to say that a secret meeting in Baku took place,” the Azerbaijani president stated.

At the same time, he added that Azerbaijan can only welcome such a meeting if it contributes to ending Russia’s war against Ukraine.

On July 19, The Times reported that a group of former German politicians and lobbyists maintains an unofficial channel of communication with representatives of the Russian government.

According to the publication, the most recent meeting in Baku was attended by Pofalla, Platzeck, Zubkov, and Fadeev. This informal format positions itself as the successor to the “St. Petersburg Dialogue”—a German-Russian forum that ceased operations in 2021.

The Times reported that since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, at least four such meetings have taken place in Baku and Abu Dhabi. According to the newspaper, previous meetings also included Ralf Stegner, a member of the Bundestag from the Social Democratic Party, and Stefan Holthoff-Pförter, a former minister of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia from the CDU.

The German participants described these contacts as a private initiative.

As reported by Ukrinform, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that Russia and Ukraine are seeking to conclude a peace agreement, which could happen very soon.

Photo: OP