Russia, USA and EU held secret security talks on Nagorno Karabakh in Istanbul

Russia, the United States and the European Union held secret talks on Nagorno Karabakh days before Azerbaijan launched its special operation in the region last month, Politico wrote.

The talks marked a rare security contact incidence between Moscow and the West after February 24, 2022.

A senior diplomat familiar with the discussions told the publication that the negotiations took place on September 17 in Istanbul. Primary attention was paid to the passage of humanitarian convoys from Armenia to Nagorno Karabakh in order to provide fuel and food supplies to local residents.

• The United States was represented by senior adviser for negotiations in the Caucasus Louis Bono;
• the European Union sent a representative to the region Toivo Klaar;
• President Vladimir Putin's special envoy for relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan Igor Khovaev arrived from Russia.

A US State Department official declined to comment on the meeting, calling it a private diplomatic discussion.

Earlier, Kremlin official spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the issue of the peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan was still relevant even though it was decided that Nagorno Karabakh would cease to exist.

On September 19, the Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan announced the beginning of "local anti-terrorist measures” in Nagorno Karabakh. The head of the unrecognised republic Samvel Shahramanyan later signed a decree that put an end to the existence of the republic.