Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan is in Granada, Spain, to attend the third European Political Community Summit where some fifty European leaders are scheduled to gather to discuss steps to ease tensions and conflicts on the continent.

Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev were scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the summit, but Aliyev backed out at the last moment.

The Azerbaijani press reported that Aliyev backed out over “destructive statements” made by French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna during her trip this week to Yerevan. Colonna pledged French military aid to Armenia so that the country can defend itself. She also accused Baku of forcibly displacing Armenians from Karabakh.

Another reason for Aliyev’s about-face is that Paris and Berlin balked at Turkey’s participation in the scheduled meeting.

The European Political Community (EPC) is an intergovernmental forum for political and strategic discussions about the future of Europe, established in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  It is distinct from both the European Union (which is a participant) and the Council of Europe.