Azerbaijan ready to facilitate Kyiv-Moscow dialogue in Baku

Baku is open to hosting peace talks between Ukraine and Russia if both Kyiv and Moscow express readiness, said Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, in an interview with Germany's Berliner Zeitung, Azernews reports.

“If our friends and partners wish to meet in Baku, we would be pleased to welcome them... We invite everyone, but we cannot force anyone. The initiative must come from them,” Hajiyev stated.

He emphasized that Baku has already become a diplomatic hub for the Caspian region.

“Talks between Türkiye and Israel have been held here. Syria and Israel have also engaged in dialogue in Baku. In the past, strategic discussions between Russia and the U.S. on missile defense, as well as negotiations between Russia and NATO, took place here. More recently, several other confidential diplomatic meetings have also been hosted in Baku,” he added.