On July 18, Hikmet Hajiyev, the Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, responded to a question regarding the anticipated Armenia-Azerbaijan talks during the European Political Community Summit in London.

Hajiyev confirmed that the UK, as the summit's host, proposed a meeting in the same format as the one held between the President of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of Armenia at the Munich Security Conference. At that conference, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz participated at the beginning of the meeting, which then continued bilaterally between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The UK suggested replicating this format, beginning with the British Prime Minister's participation and then continuing as a bilateral discussion.

However, the Armenian side refused the meeting. Hajiyev stated, "We consider Armenia's rejection of this meeting as a manifestation of its intention to withdraw from the dialogue and the advancement of the peace agenda." He emphasized that while Armenia speaks of peace on various platforms, its refusal to attend a meeting aimed at promoting the peace agenda is incomprehensible. He added, "The international community should see that Armenia rejects possibilities of dialogue instead of appreciating them."

Hajiyev expressed Azerbaijan's appreciation for the UK's peace initiative, reiterating the importance of such efforts to advance dialogue and peace between the two nations.

Armenia denies

On July 18, commenting on the statement from the Azerbaijani leader's administration, Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Ani Badalyan stated that Armenia had proposed a meeting between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Badalyan clarified, "The Armenian side offered to hold a bilateral meeting between the Armenian prime minister and the Azerbaijani president within the framework of the European Political Community summit in the UK, but the Azerbaijani side rejected the proposal." She emphasized that Armenia's proposal remains in force.