"Russia's Covert Negotiations with U.S. and EU Prior to Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Revealed"

Russia has confirmed that senior diplomats from Russia, the United States, and the European Union held secret talks on the eve of Azerbaijan's military campaign to retake Nagorno-Karabakh. The talks, aimed at pressuring Baku to end its blockade of Karabakh, took place in Istanbul on September 17. The meeting was characterized as a "regular exchange of views" by the Russian Foreign Ministry, while the Kremlin acknowledged the contacts but criticized the inaccuracies in the media report. Such meetings have been rare since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and subsequent Western sanctions.