Azerbaijan’s president snubs EU-hosted talks on Nagorno-Karabakh

Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev had wanted Turkey to be among countries represented at a meeting with Armenia’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, in Spain. Photograph: Annegret Hilse/Reuters

Azerbaijan will not attend an EU-brokered event in Spain where its president, Ilham Aliyev, was set to hold talks with his Armenian counterpart over the future of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Aliyev had been considering taking part in a meeting to discuss the breakaway region – which has largely emptied out after the mass exodus of ethnic Armenians – with the leaders of France, Germany, Armenia and the EU Council president, Charles Michel.