Zelensky Visits Azerbaijan, Offers to Host Trilateral Ukraine-Russia-US Peace Talks in Gabala

President Zelensky made his first wartime visit to the South Caucasus on April 25, meeting Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Gabala. The two leaders signed six bilateral cooperation agreements covering defense-industrial co-production and other sectors; bilateral trade exceeds $500 million annually. Zelensky offered to hold trilateral Ukraine-Russia-US peace talks in Azerbaijan, stating: 'We have informed the president of Azerbaijan that we are ready for trilateral talks — in Azerbaijan if Russia is prepared for diplomacy.' Zelensky also thanked Aliyev for 11 energy assistance packages during the war. The visit followed a separate Zelensky meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh (April 24), building on a March 2026 defense cooperation agreement. Separately, the Kremlin's Dmitry Peskov had stated (April 22) that Putin would only meet Zelensky 'when agreements are being finalized' — a precondition Ukraine rejects. Russia continues to demand Ukraine cede all of Donetsk Oblast currently under Ukrainian control, which Kyiv calls unacceptable.