Zelensky Proposes Azerbaijan as Venue for Ukraine-Russia Peace Talks

Presidents Zelensky and Aliyev at the Gabala summit

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise visit to Azerbaijan on April 25, meeting President Ilham Aliyev in the city of Gabala for wide-ranging talks that spanned security cooperation, energy, and humanitarian assistance. Six bilateral agreements were signed and Azerbaijan donated five electric buses to Ukraine, including to the city of Irpin. Zelensky's office noted that Ukrainian defense experts are already working in Azerbaijan on air defense and critical infrastructure protection.

The most politically significant statement of the visit concerned the possibility of hosting Ukraine–Russia–US peace talks in Baku. Zelensky said that if Russia was "ready for diplomacy," trilateral negotiations could take place in Azerbaijan in the near future. Moscow's response was notably receptive: Russian Federation Council Senator Vladimir Dzhabarov said Russia could agree to talks in Azerbaijan, describing it as "a normal venue" where current relations are good.

The visit carries additional weight given its timing — coming just ten days after Baku and Moscow reached a settlement over the downing of an Azerbaijani Airlines passenger plane in December 2024, with Azerbaijan dropping demands that Russia punish those responsible. Analysts say the sequence illustrates Baku's carefully calibrated balancing act: offering concrete support to Ukraine while keeping lines open with Russia, and positioning itself as a credible regional mediator.