Good afternoon, dear compatriots. I am greeting you from Davos. I went live to tell you a few words about my yesterday’s meeting with Ilham Aliyev. To tell the truth, yesterday’s meeting was followed by other events until late tonight, and since then I have had different meetings this morning - this is probably the first opportunity to brief you on what has happened, especially as I would like to tell you a few points about the logic of today’s meeting.

First, there is such a question as to why the meeting had not been announced beforehand and the meeting was planned. I want to say that this is our third meeting and conversation with Ilham Aliev. As I noted above, the meeting was not planned beforehand; when we met in Dushanbe, it was equally likely that we would meet or not meet. The same happened in St. Petersburg when we just used another occasion. I find it very important to record this. In general, there was a problem with that kind of contacts. For instance, as we attended the NATO summit in Brussels, we happened to come across several times and have the opportunity to communicate.

As a result, in the context of our communication with the co-chairs, there was a common understanding that at least we should not avoid communicating during those events we might be attending together, especially as these were informal meetings and informal conversations, and therefore they cannot be deemed as the official launch of negotiations.

As for the Davos meeting, it happened in the following manner: well aware that both of us were in attendance, the Davos forum organizers asked us if we were not against meeting or communicating with each other. We both gave our consent, and we just talked in the same unofficial logic, discussed various issues on the understanding that we should not avoid contacts like that. Our conversations chiefly focused on the background history and the chronology of the negotiations process.

Of course, we also discuss the possibilities and the conditions for the settlement. And in this context, I want to say that we do not discuss any specific details, we exchange ideas, and this is also an opportunity to get to know each other and present our respective perceptions of the negotiation process. I really want to emphasize that this is what we are talking about publicly.

In other words, I mean that during the discussions and conversations held in that format, we touch on almost everything we talk about in public. In this regard, I find it important to state once and for all that there is no conspiracy whatsoever in our meetings as some commentators and public figures are trying to insinuate through mass media outlets. It is even absurd to think about it. I want to emphasize once again that this is simply due to their misunderstanding of the situation. Let no one think that our government or I can ever get involved in any plot.

It is obvious that the leaders of two states can only speak of their national interests; they represent the interests of their peoples, and thinking of something else is simply a misunderstanding of the situation.