Top US and EU officials met with Russian representatives at secret emergency talks in Turkey over Nagorno-Karabakh, just days before Azerbaijan launched its lightning military operation to regain control of its territory.
Source: “European truth” with reference to Politico and its sources
Details: A senior diplomat who was familiar with the discussions told the publication that the meeting took place on September 17 in Istanbul as part of attempts to pressure Azerbaijan to end its nine-month blockade of the Lachin corridor, which leads to Nagorno-Karabakh, and allow humanitarian aid convoys from Armenia.
According to the interlocutor, the meeting was focused on how to ensure supplies of food and fuel for approximately 100 thousand people of the unrecognized republic.
The United States was represented by Louis Bono, Washington’s senior adviser on negotiations in the Caucasus. The EU sent its representative to the region, Toivo Klaar. Russia sent Igor Khovaev, who is Putin’s special representative for the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, to the meeting.
The secret meeting is an example of rare contact between Moscow and the West over serious security issues after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 undermined traditional diplomacy, the newspaper said.
In a statement to the publication, an EU representative explained that “we believe that it is important to maintain channels of communication with relevant interlocutors in order to avoid misunderstandings.”
He also noted that Klaar has tried to keep the lines of communication open on many fronts over the past years, including negotiations with Khovaev and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin.
A US State Department spokesman declined to comment on the meeting, saying only that “we do not comment on private diplomatic discussions.”
An American official, speaking on condition of anonymity, explained that the negotiations were conducted on the understanding that the Kremlin still holds sway in the region.
“We should be able to work with the Russians on this because they have influence on the parties, especially since we are in an unstable moment right now,” the US official said.
On September 19, Azerbaijan launched a lightning offensive into the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh, sending tanks and troops into the region backed by heavy artillery.
The Karabakh Armenian leaders were forced to surrender after 24 hours of stubborn fighting.
Since then, according to the Armenian government, more than 100 thousand people left their homes, fearing for their lives.
EuroPravda spoke in detail about the latest events in the region in an article “Third Karabakh”.
Read about the broader context of the conflict in the 2020 article Karabakh, unlike Donbass: 8 answers to the question about a new war in the Caucasus.
2023-10-04 08:35:21
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