Politico: The US, EU and Russia held secret negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh a few days before the Azerbaijani special operation

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, reports Politico.

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Azerbaijan achieved complete control over Nagorno-Karabakh within 24 hours - now the local army and government will be disbanded. The self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Artsakh) will cease to exist. The corresponding decree was signed by its “president” Samvel Shahramanyan, reports Meduza. In accordance with the document, all state institutions and organizations of Artsakh will be dissolved until January 1, 2024. More than half of the Armenians living there left the territory of Karabakh. The press secretary of the Prime Minister of Armenia Nazeli Baghdasaryan reported on September 28 that 68 people arrived in Armenia (the total Armenian population of the NKR was estimated at 386 thousand).

Negotiations before conflict

A senior diplomat familiar with the discussions said the meeting between US, EU and Russian representatives took place on September 17 in Istanbul as part of efforts to pressure Azerbaijan to end its nine-month blockade of the Lachin corridor leading to Nagorno-Karabakh and allow humanitarian convoys help from Armenia. The meeting focused on "how to get those damn trucks moving" and ensure that food and fuel supplies could reach the estimated 100 residents.

The US was represented by Louis Bono, Washington's senior adviser for negotiations in the Caucasus, and the EU sent Toivo Klaar, its representative in the region. Meanwhile, Russia sent Igor Khovaev, who is Putin's special envoy for relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

On the subject: Russification did not work out: how do the territories of Ukraine occupied by Russia live now?

The meeting marks a rare - if ultimately unsuccessful - contact between Moscow and the West on a major security issue after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 upended conventional diplomacy.

An EU spokesman said that “we believe it is important to maintain channels of communication with relevant interlocutors to avoid misunderstandings.” The official also noted that Klaar has sought to maintain lines of communication on many fronts over “recent years,” including in negotiations with Khovaev and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin.

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A US State Department spokesman declined to comment on the meeting, saying only that “we do not comment on private diplomatic discussions.”

However, a US official familiar with the matter explained that the discussions arose out of an understanding that the Kremlin remains in control of the situation in the region.

“We need to be able to work with the Russians on this issue because they do have influence over the parties, especially now that we are in a dangerous moment,” the US official said.

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