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.
