Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will not attend an October 5 meeting in Spain with Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and the leaders of the European Union, France, and Germany.

The Azerbaijani press reports that Aliyev has backed out of the meeting 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.

The Trend news agency writes that another reason for Aliyev’s turnaround is because Paris and Berlin balked at Turkey’s participation in the meeting.

Yesterday, Aliyev expressed hope that his October 5 meeting in Granada, Spain, with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan “will give impetus to the development of the peace agenda in the region.”

Azerbaijan has yet to officially confirm that Aliyev will not go to Spain.