Russia’s Foreign Ministry has denied that Russian and German officials held talks in Azerbaijan last month to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“There have been no official contacts with Germany regarding a settlement in Ukraine, nor are there any now,” Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told the state-run news agency TASS. “And they are hardly possible given the extremely aggressive anti-Russian rhetoric and actions of Germany’s leadership.”
His comments come after Azerbaijan’s president said in July that Russian and German officials held a “secret meeting” in Baku earlier that month.
Media reports suggested that former minister-president of Brandenburg Matthias Platzeck and former chief of staff of the German chancellery Ronald Pofalla took part in the talks on the German side. On the Russian side, former prime minister Viktor Zubkov and current presidential human rights chief Valery Fadeyev allegedly attended the talks.
Galuzin said backchannel discussions have taken place between individuals from Germany and Russia who are not affiliated with either country’s government but did not provide further details.
